Microcosm of London; or, London in miniature

r

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

OR

LONDON IN MINIATURE
VOL. I

THE MICROCOSM OF
| LONDON

OR

LONDON IN MINIATURE

C r

VOLUME I

WITH THIRTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS BY PUGIN AND ROWLANDSON

< > *

METHUEN & CO.

LONDON

1904

NOTE

'T'HIS Issue is founded on the original Edition
published by Rudolph Ackermann.

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R.ACKERMANN.

x INTRODUCTION

The great objection that men fond of the fine arts have
hitherto made to engravings on architectural subjects, has been,
that the buildings and figures have almost invariably been de-
signed by the same artists. In consequence of this, the figures
have been generally neglected, or are of a very inferior cast, and
totally unconnected with the other part of the print ; so that we
may sometimes see men and women in English dresses delineated
in an English view of an Italian palace, and Spanish grandees
in long cloaks, and ladies in veils, seated in one of our own

cathedrals.

The dress, we know, is neither new, nor rare,
But how the d 1 came it there ?

To remove these glaring incongruities from this publication, a
strict attention has been paid, not only to the country of the
figures introduced in the different buildings, but to the general
air and peculiar carriage, habits, &c. of such characters as are
likely to make up the majority in particular places.

The architectural part of the subjects that are contained in this
work, will be delineated, with the utmost precision and care, by
Mr. Pugin, whose uncommon accuracy and elegant taste have
been displayed in his former productions. With respect to the
figures, they are from the pencil of Mr. Rowlandson, with whose
professional talents the public are already so well acquainted, that
it is not necessary to expatiate on them here. As the following
list comprises almost every variety of character that is found in
this great metropolis, there will be ample scope for the exertion

INTRODUCTION xi

of his abilities ; and it will be found, that his powers are not con-
fined to the ludicrous, but that he can vary with his subject, and,
whenever it is necessary, descend

From grave to gay, from lively to severe.

As six numbers will form a volume, the whole will be comprised
in four handsome volumes, with each of which will be given a
beautiful frontispiece ; so that each volume will contain twenty-five
highly finished plates, correctly designed and coloured from nature,
with near two hundred pages of letter-press.

As every possible attention will be paid to executing the
different parts in a superior style, and rendering this work worthy
of approbation and encouragement, the publisher is not afraid of
obtaining it.

CONTENTS

OF VOL. I

FAGB

ACADEMY, ROYAL, DRAWING FROM LIFE 9

_ EXHIBITION, SOMERSET-HOUSE - - - IO

ADMIRALTY, BOARD-ROOM - 1 6

ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE - 23

ASYLUM, DINING-HALL - 25

AUCTION-ROOM, CHRISTIE'S - 32

BANK OF ENGLAND - - 40

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR - 52

BILINGSGATE - 63

BLUE COAT SCHOOL - - 69

BOW-STREET OFFICE - 82

BRIDEWELL, PASS-ROOM - 92

BRITISH INSTITUTION 98

BRITISH MUSEUM - IOI

CARLTON HOUSE - IO7

CATHOLIC, ROMAN, CHAPEL - - 114

COAL EXCHANGE - 1 19

COCKPIT, ROYAL - 123

COLD-BATH-FIELDS PRISON - 126

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS - 134

COMMONS, HOUSE OF - - - 189

xiv CONTENTS

PACE

COURT OF CHANCERY - 193

OF COMMON PLEAS - 203

OF KING'S BENCH - 20$

OF EXCHEQUER - 2OJ

COVENT-GARDEN MARKET - 209
THEATRE - 212

CUSTOMHOUSE, FROM THE THAMES - 217

LONG ROOM - 218

DEBATING SOCIETY - 223

DOCTORS' COMMONS - - 224

DRURY-LANK THEATRE - - 228

N.B. The binder is requested to note the above as furnishing him with directions
for the arrangement of the plates.

THE

MICROCOSM OF LONDON

OR

t LONDON IN MINIATURE

KOYAL ACADEMY

THE state of society in this country, and indeed of almost
all Europe besides, was such, that, from the time of
William the Norman to the accession of Charles I. the
sovereigns of England had no sort of conception of the fine arts.
Deeds of martial hardihood and romantic heroism, fraught with
a sort of spirit of chivalry, engrossed the attention, and attracted
the admiration, of both the monarch and his subjects. The arts
were of too quiet a description to be heard amid the clangour
of arms and perpetual din of warfare, which engrossed the whole
attention of the monarch and his courtiers.

They were, however, the principal actors in achievements,
which the artists of better times have thought worthy of delinea-
tion, without at all expecting that their heroic deeds would be
thus commemorated, nor does it seem likely that they would
have thought any fame or celebrity would be attached to such
a record. It was, however, highly honourable to the names of
both parties ; for while it emblazoned the sovereign or soldier,
by recording their heroic actions in that universal language which

i. — B

4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

men of all nations can read, it created, or at least kept alive,
a species of painting, which is universally admitted to be elevated
above any other to which the artist can aspire, or the pencil be
devoted ; for it has been said and admitted by the first authorities,
that historical painting should be the leading object of every
man who is ambitious of distinguishing himself in the arts.
This is the test by which the national character will be tried
in future ages, and by which it is now tried by the natives of
other countries. This is the great source from whence the
rivulets of art flow, and from whence only is to be derived the
vigour and character that truly ennoble them. To this is owing
the peculiar excellence discoverable in the portraits painted by
TITIAN, RAPHAEL, RUBENS, VANDYKE, and many others ; and
NICOLO POUSSIN alone is a sufficient proof, what consequence and
dignity may be introduced into it by the pencil of a man whose
views are not confined to narrow limits. Indeed an artist ought
always to be in possession of more than his subject calls for,
or infallibly he will not have what his subject calls for. Much
more might be said on this subject, but we have not room to
expatiate on it.

Previous to the institution of a Royal Academy, there was an
exhibition at the Lyceum in the Strand. It was denominated
THE SOCIETY OF ARTISTS OF GREAT BRITAIN ; and the profits
were to be applied to the relief of distressed artists, their widows
and children. In this place were exhibited some very fine pro-
ductions by Mortimer and other of our most celebrated painters.

The princes of the house of Hanover had many virtues of a
description that adorn and dignify human nature. George II,
was a gentleman of high honour and undeviating integrity ; but

ROYAL ACADEMY 5

he possessed no portion of taste for the fine arts, the professors
of which were very coldly considered during his reign.

The accession of his present majesty displayed a very different
scene, and those who had talents found now a sovereign who had
taste to discern and appreciate them, and sought every oppor-
tunity of affording them countenance and protection.

In the year 1774, old Somerset Place was purchased of the
crown, and an act of parliament passed for embanking the river
Thames before Somerset House, and for building upon its scite
various public offices, &c. The part of the building appropriated
to the artists, is the object of our present enquiry.

The room on the ground-floor is allotted to models of statues,
plans, elevations, and drawings.

The coved ceiling of the library was painted by Sir Joshua
Reynolds and Cipriani. The center is by Sir Joshua, and repre-
sents the Theory of the Art, under the form of an elegant
and majestic female, seated on the clouds and looking upwards :
she holds in one hand a compass, in the other a label, on which
is written,

Theory is the knowledge of what is truly nature.

The four compartments in the coves of the ceiling are by
Cipriani, and represent Nature, History, Allegory, and Fable.
These are well imagined, and sufficiently explain themselves.

The adjoining room, being originally appropriated to models
and casts from the antique, of which this society has a most
valuable and curious collection, is plain and unornamented.

The council room is more richly decorated ; the stucco is in
a good taste, and in the center compartment of the ceiling are

6 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

five pictures painted by Mr. West. The center picture repre-
sents the Graces unveiling Nature ; the others display the four
elements from which the imitative arts collect their objects, under
the description of female figures, attended by genii, with Fire,
Water, Earth, and Air, exhibited under different forms and
modifications. The large oval pictures which adorn the two
extremities of the ceiling, are from the pencil of Angelica
Kauffman, and represent Invention, Composition, Design, and
Colouring. Besides these nine large pictures, there are in the
angles, or ospandrells in the center, four coloured medallions,
representing Apelles the painter, Phidias the sculptor, Apollo-
dorus the architect, and Archimedes the mathematician ; and
round the great circle of the center, eight smaller medallions,
held up by lions, on which are represented, in chira-obscuro,
Palladio, Bernini, Michael Angelo, Fiamingo, Raphael, Domini-
chino, Titian, and Rubens ; all of which are painted by Rebecca.

Sir Joshua Reynolds was the first president ; and his urbanity
of manners, and high rank in the arts, gave him a respectability
with the society, which it will not be easy for any of his
successors to equal.

It is not proper to pass the name of this great man without
some general account of his character :

" His art was nature, and his pictures thought."

He was born heir to the manor of portrait-painting, the soil of
which he has so improved, enriched, and fertilized, as to give this
hitherto barren spot in the province of art, an importance it
was never before thought capable of receiving. At the hour
he began to paint he was the leader of his art, and, whatever

ROYAL ACADEMY 7

improvements were made by his contemporaries, preserved that
rank to the last year of his life. He was sometimes praised for
excellences which he did not possess, and sometimes censured
for errors of which he was not guilty. To analyze his character
fairly, it is necessary to consider the state of the arts when he
began to paint ; and to say a man was superior to the painters
who immediately succeeded Hudson, is, with very few excep-
tions, saying little more than that he was a giant among pigmies.
By his fondness for experiments in colours, he frequently used
such as vanished before the originals they were designed to
commemorate, and many of them the world need not lament.
Every succeeding year of his life he improved ; and that some
of his later pictures have been painted with colours that fled,
every man of true taste will regret ; at the same time that the
mezzotintoes so frequently engraved from them, shew us in
shadow, that such things were. He did not aim at giving a mere
ground-plan of the countenance, but the markings of the mind,
the workings of the soul, the leading features which distinguish
man from man ; by which means he has represented real beings
with all the ideal graces of fiction, and united character to
individuality. Invention and originality have been said to be
the leading excellences of a poet or a painter, and the president
has been accused of borrowing from the works of others. Let
it be remembered, that the merit does not lie in the originality
of any single circumstance, but in the conduct and use of all the
branches and particular beauties which enter into each composi-
tion. Such appropriation has a right to the praise of invention,
and to such praise was Sir Joshua entitled. He frequently
united the elegance of the French style with the chastity of the

8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Roman ; he imitated the brilliant hues of Rembrandt, but never
introduced what was either mean or disgusting ; he had the rich-
ness of colouring of Rubens without his excess and tumult ; and
by thus judiciously selecting and skilfully blending the colours
of the various masters, he has formed a style wholly his own,
on the merit of which other painters have separately about as
high claim, as the mason who hewed the stones for Whitehall
had to the honours due to Inigo Jones.

Considered in every point of view, he has given a new
character to portrait-painting, and his pencil may, without ex-
aggeration, be called creative.

He was succeeded in his situation as president of the Royal
Academy by Mr. Benjamin West, the present president.

The stated professors of painting in its different departments,
read lectures to the students in their various branches ; and as
they possess a most capital collection of casts and models from
antique statues, &c. they have what may be fairly deemed a good
school for drawing. A school for colouring they still want ; and
it has been recommended to them to purchase a collection of
pictures, to which the students might resort, and compare their
own productions with those of the great masters, whose works
have stood the test of ages. The Lectures by Sir Joshua
Reynolds are published, and are models of elegant composition
as well as scientific taste. Those by Mr. Barry were published
a few years ago, and contain much original and useful informa-
tion, blended with some of this singular painter's peculiarities.

When Mr. Fuseli was elected keeper, Mr. Opie succeeded to
the office of professor of painting, but since his death a successor
has not been appointed.

ROYAL ACADEMY 9

Mr. Sheldon, professor of anatomy, delivers six lectures
annually, during the summer season.

Prize medals (of silver), for the best academy figure, are
delivered once a year.

Gold medals for historical compositions in painting, sculpture,
and designs in architecture, once in two years. The latter are
presented to a full assembly, and succeeded by a discourse from
the president.

Students have generally during the whole year an opportunity
of studying nature from well chosen subjects, and of drawing
from the antique casts.

Admission to the lectures is by a ticket signed by an acade-
mician ; they are held on Monday evenings, at eight o'clock, in
Somerset Place.

The annual exhibition generally opens in May, and every
person admitted pays one shilling ; and sixpence for a catalogue,
if he wishes to have one.

The first print in this number is,

A VIEW OF THE STUDENTS IN THE ROYAL ACADEMY, AT SOMERSET
HOUSE, DRAWING FROM THE LIFE.

The room in which this is done we have already described ;
and by the manner in which it is arranged, and their errors being
pointed out, a number of our young students draw with great
correctness. It is devoutly to be wished that their colouring
was as meritorious as their drawing ; but for colouring they have
not yet a good school, though several of the royal academicians
have made many attempts to obtain it ; but, alas ! those attempts
have not hitherto been crowned with success.

io THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

The print displays a very correct view of the scene it professes
to describe, and to those who have been engaged in the business
will be so interesting, that they will not be likely to want any
illustration of it. To those who have never been either parties
or spectators, it is hoped it will prove attractive. We therefore
submit it, with all that follow it, to a candid public, with the
conviction, that whatever highly merits approbation, is sure to
receive it.

THE GREAT ROOM AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY, AT THE TIME
OF AN EXHIBITION.

This most spirited drawing is covered with the representation
of pictures and figures, in a manner with which it would not
be easy to find one with which it could be paralleled ; nor would
it be easy to find any other artist, except Mr. Rowlandson, who
was capable of displaying so much separate manner in the
delineations placed on the walls, and such an infinite variety of
small figures, contrasted with each other in a way so peculiarly
happy, and marked with such appropriate character. The
peculiar mode by which different persons shew the earnestness
with which they contemplate what they are inspecting, and
display an absorbed attention to the object before them, is incom-
parably delineated ; and the whole forms an admirable little
picture of that busy scene, in which such crowds are annually
engaged in watching the progress of the fine arts as annually
exhibited at the Royal Academy.

To point out any number of figures as peculiarly entitled to
attention, would be an insult to the spectator, as very many
would necessarily be left out of the catalogue, and every man
of taste will discern them at a glance.

1 .

II

THE ADMIKALTY

THE Admiralty is a brick building, containing the office
and apartments for the lords commissioners of the
Admiralty, who superintend the marine department, and
is contiguous to the Horse Guards on the north. With respect
to the architecture, the principal front facing Parliament-street
displays a proof that the noble lord and board who presided at
the time it was built, had objects of more consequence than
symmetry and proportion to attend to : it was designed and
erected by Shipley. The screen in the front (which was de-
signed and erected by Adams) is so peculiarly elegant, that it
in a degree redeems the other part from disgrace. On the top
of the Admiralty are erected two telegraphs, the inside of which
may be seen by proper application to the porter, or person who
works the machine.

The lord high admiral is classed as the ninth and last great
officer of the crown ; and the honour it conferred, and trust it
vested, were formerly considered to be so great, that the post
was usually given either to some of the king's younger sons,
near kinsmen, or one of the chief of the nobility. To the lord
high admiral belongeth the cognizance of contracts, pleas, or
quarrels made upon the sea, or any part thereof which is not
within any county of the realm ; for his jurisdiction is wholly
confined to the sea. The court is provided for the trial and
punishment of all offences committed on the high seas, and is
a civil court. Courts-martial in the Admiralty have a judge

12 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

advocate appointed to assist them. The present judge of the
Admiralty is the Right Honourable Sir William Scott, Knight,
LL.D., the salary 2500!. The present king's advocate general
is Sir John Nicholl, Knight, LL.D.

In King Henry III.'s days, and in the reigns of Edward I.
II. and III. Richard II. Henry IV. V. and VI. there were
several admirals ; for the cautious wisdom of those days would
not trust a subject with so great a charge, nor permit any one
man to have a certain estate in a post of so great importance.
But, nevertheless, in those days there was a great admiral of
England.

King Henry VI. in the fourteenth year of his reign, con-
stituted John Holland Duke of Exeter, and Henry Holland his
son, admirals of England, Ireland, and Aquitaine for life.

The power of this great officer is described in a statute of
Charles II. : it is enacted that he may grant commissions to
inferior vice-admirals, or commanders in chief of any squadron
of ships, to call and assemble courts-martial, consisting of com-
manders and captains ; and no court-martial, where the pains of
death are inflicted, shall consist of less than five captains at least ;
the admiral's lieutenant to be as to this purpose esteemed as
a captain : and in no case when sentence of death shall pass, by
virtue of the articles (for regulating and better governing his
majesty's navies, ships of war, and forces at sea) aforesaid, or
any of them (except in case of mutiny), there shall be execution
of such sentence of death, without leave of the lord high
admiral, if the offence be committed within the narrow seas.
But in case any of the offences aforesaid be committed in any
voyage beyond the narrow seas, whereupon sentence of death

THE ADMIRALTY 13

shall be given in pursuance of the aforesaid articles, or any of
them, then execution shall be done by order of the commander
in chief of that fleet or squadron wherein sentence was passed.

He hath also power to appoint coroners to view dead bodies
found on the sea-coast or at sea ; commissioners or judges for
exercising justice in the High Court of Admiralty ; to imprison
and to release, &c.

Moreover to him belong, by law and custom, all fines and
forfeitures of all transgressors at sea, on the seashore, in ports,
and from the first bridge on rivers towards the sea ; also the
goods of pirates and felons, condemned or outlawed ; and all
waifs, stray goods, wrecks of sea deodands ; a share of all lawful
prizes, lagon, jetson, flotson ; that is, goods lying in the sea,
goods cast by the sea on the shore, not granted formerly, or
belonging to lords of manors adjoining to the sea ; all great
fishes, as sea-hogs, and other fishes of extraordinary bigness,
called royal fishes, whales only and sturgeons excepted.

" De sturgeoni observatur quod rex ilua intergram : de balneo
vero sufficit si rex habeat caput et reginse caudam." Master
William Prynne, who is one of the commentators upon the
above curious law, says, that the reason must be, that " our
wise and learned lawgivers willed the queen to have the tail
of the whale, that her majesty might have whalebone to make
her stays " ; forgetting that this was made law upwards of two
hundred years before stays were ever worn or thought of. Note
farther, that the bone used for stays, is taken out of the head,
and not the tail of the fish.

On this ancient law being once mentioned to the late
Dr. Buchan, author of Domestic Medicine, &c. &c. he repeated

i4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the following little impromptu, which I think has never before
been printed :

" If a sturgeon should chance to be cast upon land,

" Honest George, Heaven bless him ! the whole may command ;

" But if equal misfortune befal a poor whale,

" Let the king have the head, and the queen the tail."

It is not the object of this volume to say much concerning
the great power and interest which the king of England hath
in the British seas ; and as to the antiquity of the Admiralty
Court, and of the name of Admiral, it may be found in a record
mentioned by the Lord Chief Justice Coke (Coke's Institute,
p. 142, entitled " De Superioritate Maris Angliae, et Jure Officii
Admiralitatis in eodem "), said to be among the archives in the
Tower of London.

He is called admiral from amir, an Arabic word signifying
pr&fectus, and in Greek marinus. His patent formerly run
thus: " Anglise, Hibernise, et Aquitanae magnus admirallus, et
prsefectus generalis clargis et marium dictorum regnorum."

The various distinguished actions which have been recorded
of many of our admirals, and establish the honour and superi-
ority of the British navy, would fill volumes. To enumerate
them would occupy more space than can be here allotted to it,
and does not come into the plan of this work ; but to close the
recital of any thing tending to the establishment of our naval
character, without inserting the name of the late Lord Nelson,
would be a very improper omission.

Painters have exhausted their art in pictured representations
of his actions ; sculptors have hewn marble monuments to
eternize his heroic professional abilities, which have been placed
in the most conspicuous situations in different public buildings

THE ADMIRALTY 15

throughout the kingdom ; and poets have invoked the muse, and
exerted their utmost efforts to perpetuate his fame, in praises
that, used to any other individual, might have been deemed
extravagant panegyric : but the whole nation appear to have
been so gratefully alive to his exalted merit, and so highly to
revere his memory, that it is hardly deemed equal to what his
conduct peremptorily claimed from his surviving countrymen.
The Right Honourable Horatio Viscount Nelson, and Duke
of Bronte, was a most active, brave, and able officer. He
defeated the French fleet in Aboukir Bay, August i, 1798, and
took eight sail of the line ; for which he was raised to the
peerage. He was second in command at the battle of Copen-
hagen, where he displayed great courage and conduct ; for
which he was raised to the dignity of viscount. He completely
defeated the combined fleet of France and Spain, off Cape
Trafalgar, October 21, 1805, in which he lost his life.

In the advices some of our admirals have transmitted to the
Board of Admiralty and others, there is a brevity, which
Shakespeare says is the soul of wit ; there is, however, a
brevity, which is so admirable a model of epistolary writing,
that I cannot resist transcribing one or two of them ; premising,
that as they are taken from memory, they may not do justice
to the originals.

The first is from Sir George Rodney to the Governor of
Barbadoes, and is as follows :

" Dear General,

"The battle is fought, — the day is ours,
— the English flag is victorious ; — we have taken the French
admiral, with nine other ships, and sunk one. " G. B. R."

1 6 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

The second letter was, I think, transmitted to the Admiralty.

" We have met the French fleet, and taken, sunk, or de-
stroyed, as per margin."

The last I shall subjoin is from a foreigner, but seems mixed
up with a large portion of British spirit. It was written to
Admiral Benbow, who died in October 1702, at Jamaica, of the
wounds he received in an engagement with M. du Casse, in
the West Indies, off the high land of St. Martha, in the
same year.

Soon after Admiral Benbow's return to Jamaica, he received a
letter from M. du Casse, of which the following is a translation :

CARTHAGENA, August 1702.
" Sir,

" I had little hopes on Monday last but to have
supped in your cabin ; yet it pleased God to order otherwise ;
I am thankful for it. As for those cowardly captains who
deserted you, hang them up ; for, by G — d, they deserve it.

"Du CASSE."

The next print is a correct interior view of

THE BOARD ROOM OF THE ADMIRALTY,

with its appropriate decorations of globes, books, maps, &c.
The lords commissioners are represented as sitting at the table,
and may be naturally supposed engaged in some business relative
to the naval interest of Great Britain : and considered in that
point of view, may be fairly said to be transacting a business
of more real importance to this country, than any other subject
that could be debated ; and if taken in all its nautical relations,

THE ADMIRALTY 17

the acknowledged pre-eminence of our navy, and the various
appertaining et-ceteras, it is also a matter of infinite importance
to all Europe.

After what has been said, it does not seem necessary to make
any remarks on the extent of the building ; but, as it has been
before remarked, that the noble lords were engaged in trans-
actions of more importance than attending to the symmetry and
proportion of their house, which was probably left to the architect,
who might in many cases leave it to the management of his
foreman, it may afford some amusement to our readers, to recite
a few sportive sallies of the wits of the time on the brick and
mortar of the principal front.

They said, and truly said, that it is a contemptible piece of
architecture. Of the portico of this building, composed of four
Ionic columns, with a pediment of stone, a story is told, that,
from the strange disproportion of the shafts, is highly probable.
The architect, Shipley, had made them of a proper length, when
it was found that the pediment of one of his shafts had blocked
up the window of one of the principal apartments ; and he
endeavoured to remedy the error, by carrying his columns to
the roof of the building : and in truth, in its present state, one
is compelled to admit the truth of what was remarked by the late
George Selwyn, that though the columns are certainly neither of
the Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian order, they would be admirable
models to take for a new one, which might be denominated the
dis, or disproportioned order ; "or," added he, "if we chose to
give it immortality, baptize it with an appropriate title, and name
it the Robinsonian order, in honour of Sir Thomas Robinson."

The figure of Sir Thomas Robinson must be in the recollection

1 8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

of many of our readers ; — so long, so lank, so lean, so bony, that
he struck every one who saw him, as distinct from all other men,
and out of all manner of proportion. When the late Lord
Chesterfield was confined to his room by an illness, of which he
felt a consciousness that he should never recover, a friend, who
visited him in the character of one of Job's comforters, gravely
said, he was sorry to tell his lordship, that every body agreed in
thinking he was dying, and that he was dying by inches. "Am
I?" said the old peer, "am I indeed? why then I rejoice from
the bottom of my soul, that I am not near so tall as Sir Thomas
Robinson."

To return to the building : certain it is that such columns
never were seen either in Greece, or Rome, or any other
country.

The screen in the front, which was designed and erected by
Adams, is so far from being liable to any part of this censure,
that it forms a striking contrast, and would, if it were possible,
shew in a more glaring light the gross absurdities of the principal
front of the building.

On the inside of the Admiralty are two telegraphs, which may
be seen by a proper application to the porter, or person who
works the machine.

ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATKE

THE Amphitheatre at Westminster bridge has, within
these twelve years, been twice destroyed by fire ; and
the expence of rebuilding, &c. &c. to Messrs. Astleys,
the two proprietors, has been estimated as amounting to nearly
thirty thousand pounds. The present theatre is the most airy,
and in some respects the most beautiful, of any in this great
metropolis. The building is one hundred and forty feet long ;
the width of that part allotted to the audience, from wall to wall,
sixty-five feet ; and the stage is one hundred and thirty feet wide,
being the largest stage in England, and extremely well adapted
to the purpose for which it was built, the introduction of grand
spectacles and pantomimes, wherein numerous troops of horses
are seen in what has every appearance of real warfare, gallopping
to and fro, &c. &c. The whole theatre is nearly the form of an
egg 5 two thirds of the widest end forms the audience part
and equestrian circle, and the smaller third is occupied by the
orchestra and the stage. From this judicious arrangement, the
whole audience have an uninterrupted prospect of the amuse-
ments. It is lighted by a magnificent glass chandelier, suspended
from the center, and containing fifty patent lamps, and sixteen
smaller chandeliers, with six wax-lights each. The scenery,
machinery, decorations, &c. have been executed by the first
artists in this country, under the immediate direction of Mr.
Astley, jun. who made the fanciful design.

i.— c

20 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

A very good idea of its general appearance, company, &c. is
given in the annexed print.

For a looker-on to describe some part of the amusements
would be difficult, perhaps impossible; and luckily it is not
necessary, for in an advertisement published November 1807,
Mr. Astley himself has described one of them in a manner so
singularly curious, that we think it ought to be transmitted to
posterity ; and have therefore inserted it in this volume.

" TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.

"SIR,

" Having been strongly requested to give some
explanation of the utility of the country dances by eight horses,
to be performed this and to-morrow evening, I request you will
be so obliging as to insert the following hints.

" First, I humbly think that a thorough command and pliability
on horseback, is obtained by such noble exercises. Secondly,
that in executing the various figures in this dance, the rider
obtains a knowledge of the bridle hand, also capacity and
capability of the horse, more particularly at the precise time of
casting off and turning of partners, right and left, &c. &c.
Thirdly, I also conceive that the horseman may be greatly
improved when in the act of reducing the horse to obedience
on scientific principles ! ! ! and not otherwise. Fourth, as a
knowledge of the appui in horsemanship is highly desirable,
whether on the road, the chase, or field of honour, I expressly
composed the various figures in the country dance for this
desirable purpose ; and which my young equestrian artists have
much profited by, as some of them three months since were

ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE 21

never on horseback. It was from this observation, during forty-
two years practice, that I gave this equestrian ballet the name of
L'Ecole de Mars ; and I am strongly thankful that my humble
abilities have afforded some little information, as well as amuse-
ment, to the town in general.

" I am, with respect,
"The public's most humble and faithful servant,

"PHILIP ASTLEY."

" Pavilion, Newcastle-street, Strand"

From all this, a spectator would be almost tempted to think,
that, notwithstanding the numerous and learned dissertations of
philosophers to exalt their own species, horses rival man in his
superior faculties. I have heard a story on this subject, which I
•believe has not found its way into Joe Miller ; but be that as it
may, it is a good story, and in a degree illustrates this subject,
and I think my reader will not be displeased at the insertion
of it.

Some years ago, a very learned and sagacious doctor of the
university of Oxford, composed and read a long lecture on the
difference of man from beast ; and when describing the former,
asserted that man was superior to all other animals ; because
there was no other animal, except man, who either reasoned or
drew an inference, as the inferior order of beings were wholly
governed by instinct.

On the conclusion of this philosophical discourse, two of the
students, who were not quite satisfied of the fact, walked out to
converse upon it, and seeing a house with " WISEMAN, DRAWING
.MASTER," inscribed upon the sign, went into the shop, and asked

22 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the master what he drew? "Men, women, trees, buildings, or
any thing else," was the reply. " Can you draw an inference ? "
said one of them. The man took a short time to consider it,
and candidly replied, that never having seen or heard of such a
thing before, he coiild not. The students walked out of his house,
and before they had proceeded far, saw a brewer's dray with a
very fine horse in it. " A fine horse this," said one of them to
the driver. "A very fine one indeed," said the fellow. "Seems
a powerful beast," said the other. " I believe he is indeed,"
replied the fellow. "He can draw a great load, I suppose?"
said the Oxonian. " More than any horse in this county,"
answered the drayman. " Do you think he could draw an
inference?" said the scholar. "He can draw any thing in
reason, I'll be sworn," replied the drayman.

The scholars walked back to the lecture room, and found the
company still together ; when one of them, addressing the doctor
with a very grave face, said to him, " Master, we have been
enquiring, and find that your definition is naught ; for we have
found a man, and a wise man too, who cannot draw an inference,
and we have met with a horse that can."

Besides the Amphitheatre, Messrs. Astleys have a very elegant
Pavilion, for exhibiting amusements of a similar description,
which they have lately erected, and fitted out in a most complete
style, in Newcastle-street in the Strand, and named ASTLEY'S
PAVILION.

At this place the horses have displayed some feats of so
wonderful a description, as could not easily be conceived unless
they were seen. In this place eight horses have lately performed
country dances, &c. in a manner that has astonished all the

ti
H

E
(a

E

£

ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE 23

spectators. To this have been added divers horsemanships,
the twelve wonderful voltigers, &c.
The annexed print, which is

A VIEW OF THE AMPHITHEATRE AT WESTMINSTER BRIDGE,

gives a very good idea of the scene. Mr. Rowlandson's figures
are here, as indeed they invariably are, exact delineations of
the sort of company who frequent public spectacles of this
description ; they are eminently characteristic, and descriptive of
the eager attention with which this sort of spectators contemplate
the business going forward. Small as the figures are, we can in
a degree pronounce upon their rank in life, from the general air
and manner with which they are marked.

Mr. Pugin is entitled to equal praise, from the taste which he
has displayed in the perspective and general effect of the whole,
which renders it altogether an extremely pleasing and interesting
little print.

With respect to teaching horses to perform country dances,
how far thus accomplishing this animal, renders him either a more
happy or a more valuable member of the horse community,
is a question which I leave to be discussed by those sapient
philosophers, who have so learnedly and so long debated this
important business, with respect to man.

The school of Jean Jaques Rousseau, who insist upon it, that
man, by his civilization, has been so far from adding to his
happiness, that he has increased and multiplied his miseries, will
of course insist upon it, that a horse in his natural state must be
infinitely happier, than he can be with any improvements in-
troduced by man ; that all these artificial refinements must tend

24 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

to diminish, instead of increasing his felicity ; and that, as a
horse, he had much better be left in a state of nature, than thus
tortured into artificial refinement.

The advocates for Swift's system of the Houyhnhnms, in
Gulliver's Travels, admitting a horse to be superior to a man,
even in his natural state, will unquestionably be of the same
opinion ; and we must seek farther for the advantages to be
derived by introducing a teacher of dancing, and a master of
the ceremonies, to this noble and dignified animal.

It is recorded, that at a much earlier period, a right worshipful
mayor of Coventry wished to teach his horse good manners.
Queen Elizabeth, in one of her progresses to that city, was met,
about a mile before she arrived there, by the mayor and alder-
men, who desirous of declaring the high honour which they felt
she would thus confer on their city, employed the mayor to be
their speaker. The mayor was on horseback, and (as the record
saith) the queen was also on horseback, behind one of her
courtiers. A little rivulet happening to run across the road
where they stopped, the mayor's horse made several attempts
to drink ; which the queen observing, told his worship, that
before he began his oration, she wished he would let his horse
take his draught. "That, an please your majesty, he shall not,"
replied the mayor, "that he certainly shall not yet. I would
have him to know, that it is proper your majesty's horse should
drink first, — and then, he shall."

THE ASYLUM, OB HOUSE OF
EEFUGE,

IS in the parish of Lambeth, in Surry, and was instituted in
the year 1758, for the reception of friendless and deserted
girls, the settlement of whose parents cannot be found. It
was incorporated in the year 1800.

The annexed print is an interesting representation of the
objects of this benevolent institution at their repast, in the
presence of some of their guardians, who seem to contemplate
the good order, cheerfulness, innocence, and comforts of their
little wards, with all that interest and delight, that luxury of
fine feeling, which irradiates the countenance when the heart
is glowing with benevolence, animated with the exercise of an
important duty, and gratified by the conviction that their virtuous
endeavours are crowned with success. The coup d'ceil of the
print is most impressive, and does great honour to the talents
and feelings of the artists. The sweet innocence of the children,
the benevolence of the guardians, and the chaste and matron-like
simplicity of the building, aided by a fine breadth of effect, form
a whole, which at the same time that the parts are in perfect
harmony with each other, is admirably calculated to awaken the
tender emotions of the humane heart, and excite the spectator to
the exertion of those tender and kindly feelings, which do honour
to our nature.

This charity owes its establishment to that vigilant and active
magistrate, Sir John Fielding ; who had long observed, that

26 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

though the laws of this kingdom provided a parish settlement for
every person, by birth, parentage, apprenticeships, &c. yet many
cases continually occurred, in which such settlements were difficult,
if not impossible, to be ascertained ; and therefore he and others
were solicitous to remove, in part, this source of female wretched-
ness. By their exertions, and the continued endeavours of those
who have hitherto conducted the plan, their benevolent intentions
have been rewarded with the most signal success. The generous
and discerning public has bestowed the means, which have
prospered in the hands of the guardians, by whose care two
hundred deserted females are daily sheltered and protected from
vice and want, supplied with food and raiment, and taught what-
ever can render them useful in their situation, or comfortable and
happy in themselves.

Carefully instructed in the principles of religion ; in reading,
writing, needlework, and household business, they are trained
to habits of industry and regularity, by which means there is
a supply of diligent and sober domestics for the use of that public,
which, by its contributions, has so nobly acquired a right to their
services.

The particular objects of this charity are, the children of
soldiers, sailors, and other indigent persons, bereft of their
parents, at a distance from any of their relations ; who being too
young to afford the necessary information respecting settlements,
are often left destitute of protection and support, at an age when
they are incapable of earning a subsistence, and contending with
surrounding dangers.

Females of this description are, in a particular manner, the
objects of compassion, and have also a double claim to the care

THE ASYLUM 27

of the humane and virtuous, from being not only exposed to the
miseries of want and idleness, but, as they grow up, to the
solicitations of the vicious, and the consequent misery of early
seduction.

The following are some of the regulations for the government
of this charity, which have been made by the guardians from
time to time, and now continue in force.

Qualifications of Guardians.

The qualification of an annual guardian is, a yearly subscription
of three guineas or upwards.

The qualification of a perpetual guardian is, a subscription of
thirty guineas or upwards.

Legacies bequeathed to the use of this charity of one hundred
pounds or upwards, when paid, shall entitle the first-named acting
executor to be a perpetual guardian.

The guardians, conceiving it to be very essential for promoting
one of the chief objects of this institution, earnestly solicit the ladies,
who are particularly qualified for that purpose, frequently to visit
the charity, inspect the management of the house, and particularly
the employment of the children ; also to see that they are properly
instructed in housewifery, so as to be qualified for useful domestic
servants ; and from time to time communicate to the committee,
by letter or otherwise, such observations as they shall deem
proper to make.

Employment of the Children.

The children are to make and mend their own linen ; make
shirts, shifts, and table-linen ; to do all kinds of plain needle-

28 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

work, and to perform the business of the house and kitchen ; to
which latter twelve are appointed weekly, according to their age
and abilities, to assist the cook, to wash, iron, and get up all the
linen. They are likewise taught to read the Bible, write a legible
hand, and understand the first four rules in arithmetic.

All kinds of plain needle-work are taken in at the Asylum, and
performed by the children at certain rates, which are regulated by
the committee.

The following are the Rules for placing out the Children.

They are to be bound apprentices for seven years, at the age of
fifteen, or sooner, as domestic servants to reputable families in
Great Britain.

No girl shall be apprenticed until the character of the master
or mistress applying for the same, shall have been enquired into,
and approved of by the committee.

Every person applying for an apprentice must appear at the
committee, to give the necessary information respecting their
situation, unless such appearance be dispensed with by the
committee.

When any girl shall become qualified to be an apprentice, the
guardian who presented her shall be acquainted therewith, in
order to know if such guardian has any place in view for her.

The guardians, desirous of encouraging the children to serve
their apprenticeship faithfully, have empowered the committee to
grant any orphan apprenticed from the charity, who shall produce
to the committee a certificate, signed by her master or mistress
(or both if living), of her good behaviour during her apprentice-

THE ASYLUM 29

ship, the sum of five guineas, such orphan having first returned
public thanks in the chapel for the protection she has received.

The committee are empowered to put out at any time, to any
trade they shall think proper, such orphans as may have contracted
any disease or infirmity, which may render them incapable of
domestic service, with a premium not exceeding ten pounds.

THE ESTABLISHMENT IS AS FOLLOWS:

Patroness of the Institution.
Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, &c.

President.

His Royal Highness Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of

Cambridge.

Vice-Presidents.
The Marquis of Blandford.
Right Honourable Earl Spencer, K.G.
Right Honourable Earl Mansfield.
Right Honourable Admiral Lord Radstock.
Right Honourable Lord Chief Baron.
Sir William Leighton, Knight and Alderman.

A chaplain, a morning preacher, an evening preacher, two
physicians, two surgeons, an apothecary, a secretary, messenger,
and collector. There are also a treasurer, and a committee
consisting of nineteen gentlemen, that are elected annually at
the general court held every April. Concerning these for each
year, and many other things relative to this praiseworthy
institution, every necessary particular may be found in a small
abstract account to be had at the Asylum ; from which we

30 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

extracted the following regulations respecting devises or bequests
to the charity, as we have much besides in the preceding pages.

Well-disposed persons, who may be inclined to make devises
of rent, or bequests of personal property, for the benefit of this
charity, being authorised so to do by the act of Parliament
whereby it is incorporated, will be pleased to make such devises
and bequests to this corporation by the style and title of The
President, Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, and Guardians of the
Asylum for the Reception of Orphan Girls, the Settlement of
whose Parents cannot be found.

Bankers and Receivers.

Messrs. Hankey and Co. Fenchurch-street.

Messrs. Drummond, Charing-Cross.

Messrs. Hoares, Fleet-street.

Messrs. Croft and Co. Lombard-street.

Messrs. Vere, Lucadon, and Co. Lombard-street.

Messrs. Sikes, Snaith, and Co. Mansion-house-street.

The committee, who meet at the Asylum every Thursday, at
eleven o'clock in the forenoon.

Charles Wright, Esq. treasurer, and

The Rev. Mr. Agutter, at the Asylum, chaplain and secretary.

We shall close the account of this benevolent institution with
the animated apostrophe of the amiable Pennant.

"It is an institution of a most heavenly nature, calculated to
save from perdition of soul and body the brighter part of the
creation ; those on whom Providence hath bestowed angelic faces
and elegant forms, designed as blessings to mankind, but too

THE ASYLUM 31

often debased. The hazards that these innocents are constantly
liable to from a thousand temptations, from poverty, from death
of parents, from the diabolical procuress, and sometimes from the
stupendous wickedness of parents themselves, who have been
known to sell their beauteous girls for the purpose of prostitution,
induced a worthy hand, in the year 1758, to found the Asylum, or
House of Refuge. Long may it flourish, and eternal be the
reward of those into whose mind so noble a design entered ! "

32

AN AUCTION

THE print annexed is a spirited representation of that
interesting scene, a public auction. The various effect
which the lot (a Venus) has on the company, is delineated
with great ability and humour. The auctioneer, animated with
his subject, seems to be rapidly pouring forth such a torrent of
eloquence as cannot fail to operate on the feelings of his auditors ;
indeed, having two of their senses enlisted in his favour, there
seems to be little doubt that he will succeed. The eloquence of
the rostrum is of a peculiar nature. Foote, who delineated every
object that he chose with an astonishing truth and felicity, has, in
his Minor, drawn an auctioneer with so much whim and drollery,
and which, if a little outre~, possesses so many striking character-
istics, that it may serve for a portrait of the whole. Our animated
auctioneer, adorning his Venus with all the flowers of rhetoric,
seems to be saying, with Smirke in the Minor, " A-going for five
and forty, — no body more than five and forty — Pray, ladies and
gentlemen, look at this piece! — quite flesh and blood, and only wants
a touch from the torch of Prometheus, to start from the canvass and
fall a-bidding ! " And these flowers are not scattered in vain;
"/or," continues Smirke, " a general plaudit ensued, — / bowed,
and in three minutes knocked it down at sixty-three — ten"

The tout-ensemble of this print is marked with propriety and
interest. The great variety of character, the masses of light
and shade judiciously opposed to each other, the truth of the

AN AUCTION 33

perspective, and the felicity of touch which the artist has adopted
to give the idea of old pictures in the back ground, have the
happiest effect imaginable.

That in the rage for purchasing old pictures the craft of ex-
perienced dealers should frequently impose upon those who might
think it necessary to appear to have, what nature had denied them,
taste and judgment, is not to be wondered at. All living genius
was discouraged, or only found patrons in these dealers if they
would condescend to manufacture for them Raphaels and Claudes,
Corregios and Salvator Rosas. That they could not always get a
sufficient supply of copies from Italy, the following extract from
a valuable work may give some idea : — "Among the papers of a
lately deceased virtuoso, I met with a few manuscript sheets,
entitled ' Hints for a History of the Arts in Great Britain, from
the Accession of the Third George.' The following extract proves,
that painting pictures called after the ancient masters, was not con-
fined to Italy : we had in England some industrious and laborious
painters, who, like the unfortunate Chatterton, gave the honours
of their best performances to others. To the narrative there is
no date, but some allusions to a late sovereign determine it to be
a short time before we discovered that there were, in the works
of our own poets, subjects as well worthy of the pencil as any
to be found in the idle tales of antiquity, or the still more idle
legends of Popery.

" The late edict of the emperor for selling the pictures of which
he has despoiled the convents, will be a very fortunate circumstance
for many of the artists in this country, whose sole employment is
painting of old pictures ; and this will be a glorious opportunity
for introducing the modern antiques into the cabinets of the curious.

34 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

" A most indefatigable dealer, apprehensive that there might
be a difficulty and enormous expence in procuring from abroad
a sufficient quantity to gratify the eagerness of the English
connoisseurs, has taken the more economical method of having
a number painted here. The bill of one of his workmen, which
came into my hands by an accident, I think worth preservation,
and I have taken a copy for the information of future ages.
Every picture is at present most sacredly preserved from the
public eye, but in the course of a few months they will be
smoked into antiquity, and roasted into old age, and may
probably be announced in manner and form following :

' To the Lovers of Virtu.

'Mr. - - has the heartfelt pleasure of congratulating the
lovers of the fine arts upon such an opportunity of enriching
their collections, as no period, from the days of the divine Apelles
to the present irradiated aera, ever produced ; nor is it probable
that there ever will be in any future age so splendid, superb,
brilliant, and matchless an assemblage of unrivalled pictures, as
he begs leave to announce to the connoisseurs, are now exhibiting

at his great room in ; being the principal part of that

magnificent bouquet, which has been accumulating for so many
ages, been preserved with religious care, and contemplated with
pious awe, while they had an holy refuge in the peaceful gloom
of the convents of Germany. By the edict of the emperor, they
are banished from their consecrated walls, and are now emerged
from their obscurity with undiminished lustre ! with all their
native charms mellowed by the tender softening pencil of time,
and introduced to this emporium of taste ! this favourite seat of

AN AUCTION

35

the arts! this exhibition -room of the universe! and need only to
be seen to produce the most pleasing and delightful sensations.

' When it is added, that they were selected by that most

judicious and quick-sighted collector, Monsieur D , it will

be unnecessary to say more ; his penetrating eye and unerring
judgment, his boundless liberality and unremitting industry, have
insured him the protection of a generous public, ever ready to
patronise exertions made solely for their gratification.

'N.B. Descriptive catalogues, with the names of the immortal
artists, may be had as above.'

"THE BILL.
'Monsieur Varnish, To Benjamin Bistre, Dr.

' To painting the Woman caught in Adultery, on a

green ground, by Hans Holbein ^3 3 o

' To Solomon's wise Judgment, on pannel, by Michael

Angelo 2 12 6

'To painting and canvass for a naked Mary Magdalen,

in the undoubted style of Paul Veronese 220

' To brimstone for smoking ditto o 2 6

' Paid Mrs. W for a live model to sit for Diana

bathing, by Tintoretto o 16 8

' Paid for the hire of a layman, to copy the Robes of

a Cardinal, for a Vandyke o 5 o

' Portrait of a Nun doing Penance, by Albert 022

' Paid the female figure for sitting thirty minutes in

a wet sheet, that I might give the dry manner of

Vandyke* o 10 6

* Some of the ancient masters acquired a dry manner of painting from studying
after wet drapery. — WEBB on Painting.
I. — D

36 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

' The Tribute Money rendered with all the exactness

of QuintinMestius.thefamedblacksmithof Antwerp £2 12 6

4 To Ruth at the Feet of Boaz, on an oak board, by

Titian 3 3 o

' St. Anthony preaching to the Fishes, by Salvator

Rosa 3 10 o

' The Martyrdom of St. Winifred, with a view of

Holy well Bath, by Old Frank i n 6

' To a large allegorical Altar-piece, consisting of Men
and Angels, Horses and River-gods ; 'tis thought
most happily hit off for a Rubens 5 5 o

4 To Susannah bathing ; the two Elders in the back

ground, by Castiglione 2 2 o

' To the Devil and St. Dunstan, high finished, by

Teniers 220

' To the Queen of Sheba falling down before Solo-
mon, by Murillio 2 12 6

'To Judith in the Tent of Holofernes, by Le Brun i 16 o

' To a Sisera in the Tent of Jael, its companion, by

the same i 1 6 o

' Paid for admission into the House of Peers, to take
a sketch of a great character, for a picture of Moses
breaking the Tables of the Law, in the darkest
manner of Rembrandt, not yet finished o 2 6

It is to be hoped, that a general knowledge and taste for the
arts are now so far diffused among us, that the nobility and
gentry are awake to living merit, and can properly appreciate
those powers by which the old masters have acquired their high
reputation. They are no longer to be imposed on by the stale

AN AUCTION 37

tricks of those jugglers in picture-craft, who made large fortunes
by their ill -reposed confidence. A few recent examples will
suffice to prove the increased taste and judgment of the public.

In March 1795, the very fine collection of pictures by the
ancient masters, the property of Sir Joshua Reynolds, was sold
by auction for 10,3 IQ/. 2s. 6d. ; and in April 1796, various
historical and fancy pieces of his own painting, together with
some unclaimed portraits, were sold for 45O5/. i8s. His very
valuable collection of drawings and prints is not yet disposed of.

In April 1806, thirty-two choice Flemish pictures were sold by
auction, and produced 6733 guineas. One of them, by Paul
Potter, was knocked down at 1450 guineas; though this, it is
said, was bought in.

But it is only for works of the very first-rate excellence, which,
in the present state of pictorial knowledge, the nobility and
gentry will be liberal ; and many speculators in second and third-
rate pictures have been miserably disappointed, notwithstanding
the pompous and high-sounding names with which they crowded
their catalogues. In the year 1802, Count Hagen consigned to
England a collection of pictures, the catalogue of which an-
nounced a most select assemblage of the very first masters ; and
the prices they were valued at raised the expectation of cogno-
scenti to the highest pitch : their number was about sixty, and
their value he estimated at 20,000!. After many consultations
whether they should be exhibited and sold by private contract, or
public auction, the latter was determined on; and that Mr. Christie,
instead of two days' view, should allow a week for their exhibi-
tion. This being settled, the sale came on, and the produce did
not nearly cover the expences : it is true, that four of the best

38 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

were bought in and sent back to Dresden ; but the proprietor had
a deficit to pay upon the others amounting to i83/. i6s. besides
the freight, &c. for the return of the four unsold : so that he paid
for selling his pictures, and gave them into the bargain.

About the same time a Mr. Lemmer arrived with another cargo
from Vienna. This was a smaller collection, amounting to about
thirty : it was generally supposed that they belonged to Count
Harrach. This collection, however, met with no better success :
for, after a long private exhibition, a public sale was resorted to ;
and the result was, that Mr. Lemmer let his rubbish go for what-
ever it would fetch, and bought in all the pictures that were
tolerable. This mad speculation, considering the great distance,
the travelling of three people in a carriage built on purpose, and
drawn by six horses, and a residence of above eight months in
London, could not have cost the noble speculator less than 12
or I5OO/.

The fate of the Truschessian gallery is still a stronger proof
of the absurd notions which foreigners entertain of the knowledge
and judgment of English collectors. The count brought over a
collection consisting of above one thousand pictures : and that
among them were several chefs d'ceuvres, cannot be denied ; but
he asserted that the whole were unique, and of themselves
sufficient to form a splendid national gallery ; and, by his
estimation, at a fourth part of their real value, they were worth
6o,ooo/. But as Messrs. Fries, bankers at Vienna, had advanced
27,ooo/. to the count, and taken this collection as a security, after
many unsuccessful endeavours to dispose of it, the mortgager
determined to sell by public auction those not sold by private
sale. These pictures were publicly exhibited for about two years :

AN AUCTION 39

of course their merits and demerits would be fully ascertained.
The net produce of the public and private sale did not amount to
more than i8,ooo/. : and here it must be observed, that the
mortgagees bought in more than twenty of the best, which they
accounted for to the proprietor at the sums the auctioneer knocked
them down at, and which are included in the i8,ooo/.

By the statute igth Geo. III. c. 56. s. 3. it is provided, that no
person shall exercise the trade or business of an auctioneer, or
seller by commission, at any sale of estate, goods, or effects
whatsoever, whereby the highest bidder is deemed the purchaser,
without taking out a licence ; which, if it is in the bills of
mortality, shall be granted by the commissioners of excise, and
elsewhere by the collectors, supervisors, &c. ; for which licence to
sell by auction in any part of England or Wales, shall be paid
the sum of twenty shillings, and elsewhere five shillings ; and the
said licence shall be renewed annually, ten days at least before
the expiration of the former ; and if any person shall act without
such licence, he shall forfeit zoo/, if it is within the bills, and
elsewhere 5o/.

All kinds of property sold by auction, except cloth wove in
this kingdom, and sold in the piece as taken from the loom, and
in lots of 2O/. or upwards, pays a duty of seven-pence in the
pound ; and the auctioneer shall give a bond on receiving his
licence, with two sureties in 5ooo/. that he will, within fourteen
days after every such sale, deliver an account thereof at the next
excise-office, and will not sell any goods contrary to the directions
of this act, 27th Geo. III. c. 13. &c.

40

THE BANK

TH E annexed print represents the hall in which bank notes
are issued and exchanged : it is a noble room, seventy-
nine feet by forty, and contains a very fine marble
statue of King William the Third, the founder of the Bank ; an
admired piece of sculpture, and the production of Cheere. The
various groups of figures in this hall are well conceived, and the
busied and careful countenances of the monied interest, well
contrasted with the countryman's gaping face of astonishment,
and the gaiety of the sailor and his chere amie : the perspective
is good, and the effect of the whole striking and impressive.

The building called the Bank, is a stone edifice, situated a
little to the north of Cornhill. The front, composed of a center
eighty feet in length, of the Ionic order, on a rustic base ; and
two wings, ornamented with a colonnade. The back of the
building, which is in Lothbury, is a high and heavy wall of stone,
with a gateway for carriages into the bullion-court. The principal
entrance into the Bank is from Threadneedle-street. On the
east side of this entrance is a passage leading to a very spacious
apartment, which is called the Rotunda, where the stock-brokers,
stock-jobbers, and other persons meet for the purpose of transact-
ing business in the public funds. Branching out of the Rotunda
are the various offices appropriated to the management of each
particular stock ; in each of these offices, under the several letters

THE BANK 41

of the alphabet, are arranged the books in which the amount of
every individual's interest in such a fund is registered. Here,
from the hours of eleven to three, a crowd of eager money-dealers
assemble, and avidity of gain displays itself in a variety of shapes,
truly ludicrous to the disinterested observer. The jostling and
crowding of the jobbers is so excessive, and so loud and clamorous
at times are the mingled voices of buyers and sellers, that all
distinction of sound is lost in a general uproar : on such occasions,
which are not unfrequent, a temporary silence is procured by the
beadle or porter of the Bank, in the following manner : Dressed
in his robe of office, a scarlet gown, and gold-laced hat, he mounts
a kind of pulpit, holding in one hand a silver-headed staff, and in
the other a watchman's rattle. By a powerful exercise of the
rattle, he soon silences the vociferous and discordant clamour,
and produces a temporary calm.

The Bank of England was first established in the year 1694,
partly for the convenience of commerce, and partly also for the
emolument of the proprietors ; and it is the greatest bank of cir-
culation in Europe. The scheme was projected by Mr. William
Paterson, a merchant, and long debated in the Privy Council.
At length, by an act of William and Mary, c. 20. it was enacted,
that their majesties might grant a commission to take particular
subscriptions for i,2OO,ooo/. of any persons, natives or foreigners ;
whom their majesties were hereby empowered to incorporate,
with a yearly allowance of ioo,ooo/. viz. 96,ooo/. or 8 per cent.
for interest till redeemed, and 4OOO/. to be allowed the intended
Bank for charges of management. The corporation was to have
the name of " The Governor and Company of the Bank of Eng-
land;" their said fund to be redeemable upon a year's notice

42 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

after the ist of August, 1705, and payment of the principal,
and then the corporation to cease. The company was enabled
by this act to purchase lands, &c. unlimitedly, and to enjoy the
other usual powers of corporation : their stock was to be transfer-
able. They were restricted from borrowing more than i,2OO,ooo/.
except on Parliament funds ; and from trading in any merchandise,
except in bills of exchange and bullion, and in the sale of such
goods as were the produce of lands purchased by the corporation ;
and all bills obligatory under the seal of the said corporation,
were made assignable by indorsement. The charter of incorpora-
tion was executed July 27, 1694 ; which directs, that there be a
governor, deputy-governor, and twenty-four directors ; and speci-
fies the qualifications of voters and directors, together with other
regulations, which have been farther amended and enlarged by
subsequent statutes.

In 1697, the Bank was allowed to enlarge its capital stock by
an engraftment of i,ooi,i7i/. los. This engraftment is said to
have been for the support of public credit. In 1696, tallies had
been at 40, 50, and 60 per cent, discount, and bank notes at 20
per cent. During the great recoinage of silver which was going
on at this time, the Bank had thought proper to discontinue the
payment of its notes, which necessarily occasioned their discredit.
By this engrafting act, as it was called, the capital stock of the
Bank was to be exempted from any tax : no act of the corpora-
tion, nor of its court of directors, nor sub-committees, should
subject the particular share of any member to forfeiture ; but
these shares were subject to the payment of all just debts con-
tracted by the corporation : and it was made felony to counterfeit
the common seal of the Bank affixed to their sealed bills, or to

THE BANK 43

alter or erase any sum in, or any indorsement on, their sealed
notes, signed by order of the said governor and company, or
to forge or counterfeit the said bills or notes. This act was
judiciously framed for the restoration of public credit ; and it
served to effect two points, viz. the rescue of the exchequer
tallies and orders from the stock-jobbing harpies, by engrafting
them into this company ; and also cancelling the engrafted bank
notes, which had been at 20 per cent, discount, because the
government had been greatly deficient in their payments to
the Bank ; and a good interest was secured to the proprietors
of the increased capital. By the statute 6th Anne, c. 22. it was
enacted, for securing the credit of the Bank of England, that
no other banking company in England should consist of more
than six persons, empowered to issue bills or notes payable on
demand, or for any time less than six months ; which is the only
exclusive privilege belonging to the Bank. In pursuance of the
7th Anne, c. 7. the Bank advanced and paid into the Exchequer
400, ooo/. ; making in all i,6oo,ooo/. which it had advanced upon
its original annuity of 96,ooo/. interest, and 4Ooo/. for the expence
of management. In pursuance of the same act, the Bank can-
celled exchequer bills to the amount of i, 775,0277. ijs. io\d. at
6 per cent, interest : it likewise undertook the circulation of
2,5oo,ooo/. of exchequer bills, issued for the supply of the year;
and it was at the same time allowed to take subscriptions for
doubling its capital : in 1 709, therefore, the capital of the Bank
amounted to 4,402, 343/. ijs. \o^d. and it had advanced to govern-
ment 3,375,O27/. 17^. io^d. By a call of 15 per cent, there was
paid in and made stock 656,204^ is. gd. ; and by another call of
10 per cent, in 1710, 501, 448/. i2s. nd. : in consequence of these

44 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

two calls the Bank capital amounted to 5,559,995/. 14*. Bd. In
consideration of the sum of 400, ooo/. advanced to government
without interest, the exclusive privileges of the Bank were pro-
longed to one year's notice after the ist of August, 1732. By
the 1 2th Anne, c. 1 1 . the company obtained an additional term of
ten years to the period of their continuance as a corporation ; so
that they were not to be dissolved but upon a year's notice after
the ist of August, 1742. In the following year, they first received
the subscriptions to a loan for the public service, which had been
hitherto usually taken at the Exchequer ; but the Bank being
found more convenient for monied persons, has usually received
them ever since. In pursuance of statute Geo. I. c. 7, 8, 9. in
1717, the Bank delivered up two millions of exchequer bills to be
cancelled ; and it had therefore, at this time, advanced to govern-
ment 5, 3 7 5, 02 7/. ijs. lo^d. : it was now agreed to reduce the
interest from 6 to 5 per cent. In pursuance of statute 8th Geo. I.
c. 24. in 1722, the Bank purchased of the South Sea Company,
stock to the amount of 4,ooo,ooo/. ; and in this year, in con-
sequence of the subscriptions which it had taken in for enabling
it to make this purchase, its capital stock was increased by
3,4OO,ooo/. : at this time, therefore, the Bank had advanced to
the public 9,375, 027/. ijs. io\d. of which the sum of i,6oo,ooo/.
was entitled to 6 per cent, interest till the ist of August, 1743;
but the rest was to be reduced to 4 per cent, from and after Mid-
summer 1727 ; and the capital stock amounted only to 8, 959,9957.
145. Set. It was upon this occasion that the sum which the Bank
had advanced to the public, and for which it received interest,
began first to exceed its capital stock, or the sum for which it
paid a dividend to the proprietors of bank stock ; or, in other

THE BANK 45

words, that the Bank began to have an undivided capital, over
and above its divided one ; and it has continued to have an un-
divided capital of the same kind ever since. In 1728, the
Company of the Bank advanced to government i, 750,000/1 at
4 per cent, interest, without any power of enlarging their capital.
In the following year, they advanced the farther sum of i,25O,ooo/.
at 4 per cent. The capital due from government, after sundry
redemptions, was 10, ioo,ooo/. ; of which the sum of i,ooo,ooo/.
was redeemed in 1738, being part of the principal for exchequer
bills cancelled in 1717. In 1742 the company advanced a farther
sum of i,6oo,ooo/. towards the supply for that year, without
receiving any additional allowance for interest or management ;
but they were empowered to enlarge their capital stock to the
same amount. And by the act i5th Geo. II. c. 13. establishing
this contract, by which the privileges of the Bank were continued
till one year after the ist of August, 1764, it was declared, that
the acts of 7th and 1 2th Anne, and all other acts for determining
the corporation, should be void ; and that the Governor and
Company of the Bank should remain a body corporate and
politic for ever, subject to such regulations as were contained in
the acts and charters then in force. The whole sum advanced
on the original fund of ioo,ooo/. thus became 3,2OO,ooo/. and the
interest upon it, from the ist of August, 1743, 3 per cent, per
annum.

In consequence of the statute iQth Geo. II. c. 6. in 1746, the
Bank agreed to deliver up to the Treasury 986, 8oo/. in exchequer
bills ; in lieu of which, it was to have an annuity of 4 per cent.
for that sum out of the fund for licensing spirituous liquors ; and
the Bank was empowered to add the said 986, 8oo/. to its capital

46 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

stock, by taking in subscriptions for that purpose : accordingly,
at Michaelmas 1746, the whole debt due to the Bank by the
public was ii,686,8oo/. and its divided capital had been raised,
by different calls and subscriptions, to io,78o,ooo/. The state
of these sums has continued to be the same ever since. In 1764,
the Company of the Bank agreed to advance i,ooo,ooo/. towards
the supplies in exchequer bills, to be repaid in 1 766 ; and to pay
into the Exchequer no,ooo/. without any repayment of the
principal, or allowance of interest for the same : in consideration
of which, their charter was extended to the ist of August, 1786,
and the dividend on the company's stock was raised from 4^ to
5 per cent. : at Michaelmas 1767, it was raised to 5^- per cent.

From a very early period after the establishment of the Bank,
it had been the practice of the company to assist government
with money, by anticipation of the land and malt taxes, and by
making temporary advances on exchequer bills and other securities.
In the year 1781, the sums thus lent to government amounted to
upwards of eight millions, in addition to the permanent debt of
n,686,8oo/. An agreement was now entered into for the re-
newal of their charter, the term of which was extended to 1812,
on the company's engaging to advance 2,ooo,ooo/. on exchequer
bills, at 3 per cent, interest, to be paid off within three years out
of the sinking fund. In order to enable them to make this ad-
vance, a call of 8 per cent, on their capital was thought necessary,
by which their former capital stock of io,78o,ooo/. was increased
to n,642,4OO/. The sum on which they now divide the dividend
was also increased one half per cent, so that it now became 6 per
cent.

In consequence of large advances to government, the great

THE BANK 47

exportation of coin and bullion to Germany and Ireland, and
several concurring circumstances, which, at the commencement
of the year 1797, produced an unusual demand of specie from
different parts of the country on the metropolis, an order of the
Privy Council was issued on the 26th of February, prohibiting
the directors of the Bank from issuing any cash in payment till
the sense of Parliament on this subject was obtained. This
restriction was sanctioned by Parliament, and a committee was
appointed to examine the state of the Bank ; from whose report
it appeared, that, on the 25th of February, after examining the
outstanding claims against it with the corresponding assets, the
amount of the demands on the Bank was i3,77o,39o/. ; and that
of assets, not including the sum of n,686,8oo/. of permanent
debt due by government, was i7,597,298/. : so that there was a
surplus of 3,826,9o8/.

Soon after the meeting of Parliament in November following,
the committee of secrecy, appointed to enquire into the expedi-
ency of continuing the restriction on the Bank, reported, that
the total amount of outstanding demands on the Bank, on the
nth of November, was 1 7,578, gio/. ; and of the funds for dis-
charging the same, exclusively of the permanent debt, 2i,4i8,64O/.
leaving a balance in favour of the Bank at that time of 3,839,73O/.
The report stated, that the advances to government had been
reduced to 4,258, 140/1 ; and that the cash and bullion in the Bank
had increased to more than five times the value at which they
stood on the 25th of February, 1797, when it was about i, 272, ooo/.

By this statement, the solvency and solidity of the Bank were
satisfactorily evinced ; and indeed its stability must be coeval
with that of the British government. All that it has advanced

48 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

to the public must be lost before its creditors can sustain any loss.
No other banking company in England can be established by act
of Parliament, or can consist of more than six members. It acts,
not only as an ordinary bank, but as a great engine of state. It
receives and pays the greater part of the annuities which are due
to the creditors of the public ; it circulates exchequer bills ; and
it advances to government the annual amount of land and malt
taxes, which are frequently not paid up for some years. It like-
wise discounts the bills of merchants, and has, upon several
different occasions, supported the credit of the principal houses,
not only of England, but of Hamburgh and Holland. The
business of the bank is under the direction of a governor, sub-
governor, and twenty-four directors, who are elected annually by
a general court ; and is transacted by a great number of clerks in
different offices.

The qualification of a director is aooo/. of a deputy-governor
3OOO/. and of a governor 4OOO/. : fooo/. bank stock entitles the
proprietor to vote at general courts, provided he has been in
possession of it six months.

The company may not improperly be denominated a trading
company, and that which is peculiarly distinguished by the appella-
tion of bank stock, is a trading stock, the dividend of which,
amounting to 11,64.2,4.00?. paid half-yearly, and now 7 per cent,
accrues from the annual income of the company : and this arises
from the interest received for the money advanced by the pro-
prietors to the public, or the permanent debt of i i,686,8oo/. ;
from interest on the annual temporary advances ; from the profits
of their dealings in bullion and of their discount ; from the interest
of stock held by the company ; from the sums allowed by govern-

THE BANK 49

ment for the management of the annuities paid at the offices of
the Bank, such as an allowance of 45O/. per million for manage-
ment of the public funds, and the allowance of 8o5/. 155. \od. per
million for receiving the contributions to loans ; and from some
other smaller articles.

The Bank of England may be considered as the main spring
of that complicated mechanism, by which the commercial pay-
ments of this country are transacted, and by which the compara-
tively small sum of money with which they are transacted, is kept
in perpetual and regular circulation. The subordinate parts of
this machine consist of about seventy private banking-houses in
London, and about three hundred and eighty-six banks dispersed
over the country. By the joint operation of these various money-
dealers, almost all bank payments founded on commercial bargains,
are ultimately settled in London with the money which issues
from the Bank of England. This money consists, in ordinary
times, partly of coin, and partly of bank notes. From its large
capital and extensive issue of paper, that Bank indirectly supplies
the nation with as much gold as is required for circulation. Its
notes are issued in loans, granted either for the accommodation of
the public Treasury, or for that of merchants, by discount of their
bills ; and, in consequence of a common agreement among the
bankers, no notes of any private house are current in London.
All the large payments of that metropolis are in this manner
effected by the paper of the Bank of England, and they are
chiefly transacted by the private bankers, who, according to a
conjectural estimate, make daily payments to the amount of four
or five millions, and have probably in their hands a very large
proportion of the whole of the notes circulating in the metropolis.

50 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

The following table will exhibit, at one view, the state of the
cash and bullion, the average of bank notes in circulation, and
also the discounts and advances to government during the several
periods which it comprehends.

DATE.

CASH AND
BULLION.

AVERAGE OF
BANK NOTES
CIRCULATED.

BILLS
DISCOUNTED.

AVERAGE
ADVANCES TO
GOVERNMENT.

1793. March

3,506,000

11,963,820

4,819,000

8,735,200

June . .

4,412,000

12,100,650

5,128,000

9,434,000

September

6,836,000

10,936,620

2,065,000

9,455,700

December

7,722,000

10,967,310

1,976,000

8,887,500

1794. March

8,612,000

11,159,720

2,908,000

8,494,400

June . .

8,208,000

i°.366,45°

3,263,000

7,735,800

September

8,096,000

io,343,9°o

2,000,000

6,779,800

December

7,768,000

10,927,970

1,887,000

7,545,100

1795. March

7,940,000

12,432,240

2,287,000

9,773,700

June . .

7,356,000

10,912,680

3,485,000

10,879,700

September

5,792,000

11,034,790

1,887,000

10,197,600

December

4,000,000

11,608,670

3,109,000

10,863,100

1796. March

2,972,000

10,824,670

2,820,000

ii.SS1,000

June . .

2,582,000

10,770,000

3,730,000

11,269,700

September

2,532,000

9,720,440

3,352,000

9,901,100

December

2,500,000

9,645,710

3,796,000

9,511,400

1797. February .

1,270,000

8,640,250

2,905,000

10,672,490

In the beginning of 1798, the Bank advanced to government
3,ooo,ooo/. of exchequer bills, and in the progress of the year a
farther advance of 5OO,ooo/. ; so that the total sum advanced by
the Bank for the public service, and outstanding on the 7th of

THE BANK 51

December, was 6,777,7397. At a general court held the 14th of
March, 1799, it was agreed to advance to government i,5OO,ooo/.
on exchequer bills ; and it was proposed to divide among the
proprietors the 5 per cent, stock held by the company, for the
million subscribed to the Loyalty loan ; and with this view, to
purchase 39,240/1 of the same stock, to make up the sum held by
them to i,i64,24O/. in order to make a dividend of io/. 5 per
cent, stock for every ioo/. bank capital : accordingly the transfer
was made on the ist of June.

In November following, a negociation was entered into for
renewing the term of the company's charter, although about
thirteen years of it remained. The proposition was agreed to at
a general court held January the 9th, 1800. The conditions were,
that the Bank should advance to government 3,ooo,ooo/. for the
service of the year 1800, on exchequer bills, payable, without
interest, out of the supplies to be granted for the year 1 806 : in
consideration of which the term of their charter was continued
till the end of twelve months' notice after the ist of August, 1833.

The amount of bank notes in circulation had gradually in-
creased since the beginning of 1797, and, during the year 1800,
amounted to about i5,ooo,ooo/. The amount, on an average of
a month, to the 25th of January, 1801, was 16,365, 2OO/. consist-
ing of i3,845,8oo/. in notes of 5/. and upwards, and 2,519,4007.
in notes of i/and 2/.

At a general court held the igth of March, 1801, another
occasional dividend of stock was proposed. This dividend was
to be made of 582,1207. of 5 per cent, navy annuities, at the rate
of 5 per cent, for every ioo/. bank capital ; and the transfer was
made on the first of May.

i. — E

BAKTHOLOMEW FAIK

THE annexed print is a spirited representation of this
British Saturnalia. To be pleased in their own way, is
the object of all. Some hugging, some fighting, others
dancing : while many are enjoying the felicity of being borne
along with the full stream of one mob, others are encountering
all the dangers and vicissitudes of forcing their passage through
another ; while one votary of pleasure is feasting his delighted
eyes with the martial port of Rolla, and the splendid habiliments
of the Virgins of the Sun, another disciple of Epicurus is gratify-
ing his palate with all the luxury of fried sausages, to which he is
attracted by the alluring invitation of "Walk into my parlour !"
The ambitious, who, seated in triumphal cars, are by the revolu-
tion of a wheel, like that of Fortune's, raised to the highest
pinnacle of human wishes, look down with scorn on the little
grovellers below, reckless that they gain their dangerous eleva-
tion at the hazard of their necks, and that, by another turn of
the wheel, they must sink to the base level from which they
arose.

A number of youths, each with the lass he loves, are carelessly
disporting in the swings ; indeed so carelessly, that one of them
appears to have fallen out. The mighty Nimrods, each bestrid-
ing their fiery coursers on the round-about, pursue the chace with

<.

fe,

8
J
S

s

N

It

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR 53

ardour ; their ladies, seated in chariots, lead or follow with alacrity
in their circle of amusements.

The wise zoologist finds ample gratification in Mr. Pidcock's
astonishing exhibition of wild beasts, assured by the stentoric
showman, that here is to be seen " The largest elephant in the
world, except himself ! " The conjuror overwhelms his wondering
spectators with his surprising manual dexterity, and the philo-
sophic operation of eating fire. Saunders, with his equestrian
exercises, rope-dancing, and tumbling, has also his full share of
attraction. Richardson delights a joyous group with the humours
of their old and ever-welcome friend Punch ; while a lady, with a
tambourine, and a hero with a trumpet, are, with all their powers,
adding to the concert of sweet sounds, which resounds from every
quarter.

The general effect of this print is highly interesting. The
contrast of the gaudy glaring lights of the various booths,
opposed to the calm and serene light of

" the wandering moon,

" Riding near her highest noon,"

"has the happiest effect imaginable. The bustle and confusion of
the various groups are well conceived, and executed with spirit.
The surrounding scenery, St. Bartholomew's hospital, the church,
and the houses in Smithfield, are correct, and give an identity and
value to the scene.

Of the origin and progress of this ancient and celebrated fair,
it may be necessary to give some account ; and it may not be
uninteresting to give some idea of the other sports and diversions
•of our warlike and gallant ancestors, when Smithfield was the
principal scene of action.

54 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

From " HOGARTH illustrated by John Ireland" the following
essay on the rise and progress of fairs is extracted. — Vol. I. article
SOUTHWARK FAIR.

" At a time when martial hardihood was the only accomplish-
ment likely to confer distinction, when war was thought to be the
most honourable pursuit, and agriculture deemed the only neces-
sary employment, there was little social intercourse, and so few
retail dealers, that men had no very easy means of procuring those
articles which they occasionally wanted. To remove this incon-
venience, it was found necessary to establish some general mart,
where they might be supplied. Fairs were therefore instituted,
as a convenient medium between the buyer and seller, and were
at first considered as merely places of trade.* They were gener-
ally held on the eve. of saints' days. Some of them continued
open many weeks, and had peculiar privileges, to encourage the
attendance of those who had goods upon sale. The pedlar
travelled from city to city, or from town to town, with his movable
warehouse, and furnished his customers with what served them
until his periodical return.

" As men grew more polished, their wants increased, their in-
tercourse became more general, and the importance of commerce
was better understood. The merchant deposited his goods in a
warehouse, and the trader opened a shop. Fairs, deserted by
men of business, gradually changed their nature, and, instead of
being crowded by the active and industrious, were the haunts
of the idle and dissolute. Such they were at the time of this

* The/a/rj at Chester, and some few other places, still keep up the spirit of the
original institution.

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR 55

delineation [South wark Fair], made in 1733, and may be con-
sidered as a true picture of the holiday amusements of that
period. Bartholomew Fair had a similar origin."

According to Fitz-stephen, a writer in the reign of Henry II.
" Without one of the gates was a smooth or smethe field, both in
name and deed, where, every Friday, unless it be a solemn bidden
holiday, is a notable shew of horses to be sold. Earls, barons,
knights, and citizens, repair thither to see or to buy. There
may you of pleasure see amblers pacing it delicately ; there you
may see trotters fit for men of arms, sitting more hardily ; there
you may have young horses not yet broken, &c. In another part
of that field are to be sold implements of husbandry, as also fat
swine, milch kine," &c.

"To the priory of St. Bartholomew, Henry II. granted the
privilege of a fair, to be kept yearly, at Bartholomew's tide, for
three days, to wit, the eve, the day, and the next morrow. To
the which the clothiers of England, and drapers of London, re-
paired ; and had their booths and stalls within the churchyard of
this priory, closed in with walls and gates, locked every night,
and watched, for the safety of men's goods and wares. A court
of Piepowders was daily during the fair holden for debts and
contracts. But now, notwithstanding all proclamations of the
Prince, and also the act of Parliament, in place of booths within
the churchyard, only letten out in the fair-time, and closed up all
the year after, be many large houses builded ; and the north wall
towards Long-lane being taken down, a number of tenements are
there erected for such as give great rents." — STOW.

Smithfield, besides being a market for cattle and horses, hay,
straw, etc. and a cloth fair, was famous also for the celebration of

56 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

royal justs and tournaments. A general fair was likewise held at
Bartholomew tide.

To show the gallantry of those days of chivalry, it may not be
impertinent to give an extract of one ot those royal justs from
Froisart.

"In the fourteenth of Richard II. royal justs and tournaments
were proclaimed to be done in Smithfield, to begin on Sunday
next after the feast of St. Michael. Many strangers came forth
out of other countries, namely, Valerian, Earl of St. Paul, that
had married King Richard's sister ; the Lady Maud Courteney ;
and William, the young Earl of Ostarvant, son to Albret of
Baviere, Earl of Holland and Henault.

"At the day appointed, there issued forth of the Tower, about
the third hour of the day, sixty coursers, apparelled for the justs ;
upon every one an esquire of honour, riding a soft pace. Then
came forth sixty ladies of honour, mounted upon palfraies, riding
on the one side, richly apparelled ; and every lady led a knight
with a chain of gold. Those knights being on the king's party,
had their armour and apparel garnished with white harts, and
crowns of gold about the harts' necks ; and so they came riding
through the streets of London to Smithfield, with a great number
of trumpets and other instruments of music before them. The
king and queen, who were lodged in the bishop's palace in the
city of London, were come from thence with many great estates,
and placed in chambers to see the justs. The ladies that led
the knights were taken down from their palfraies,* and went
up to chambers prepared for them. Then alighted the esquires

* It was in this reign side-saddles were first used in England.

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR 57

of honour from their coursers, and the knights in good order
mounted upon them ; and after the helmets were set on their
heads, and being ready at all points, proclamation was made by
the heralds, the justs began, and many commendable courses
run, to the great pleasure of the beholders. These justs were
continued many days with great feasting."

One other instance we shall take from Stow, to shew that
these sports were attended with some danger.

"In the year 1467, the seventh of Edward IV. the Bastard
of Bourgoigne challenged the Lord Scales to fight with him
on horseback and on foot. The king therefore caused the lists
to be prepared in Smithfield : the timber-work cost two hundred
marks, besides the fair and costly galleries prepared for the
ladies and others : at which martial exercise the king and
nobility were present. The first day they ran together with
speeres, and departed with equal honour. The next day they
turneyed on horseback, the Lord Scales's horse having on his
chafron a long pike of steel, and as the two champions coped
together, the same horse thrust his pike into the nostrils of the
Bastard's horse, so that for very pain he mounted so high, that
he fell on the one side with his master ; and the Lord Scales
rode about him with his sword drawn, till the king commanded
the marshal to help up the Bastard ; who said, ' I cannot hold up
the clouds ; for though my horse fail me, I will not fail an
encounter, companion.' But the king would not suffer them
to do any more that day.

" The next morrow they came into the lists on foot with two
pole-axes, and fought valiantly ; but at last the point of the pole-
axe of the Lord Scales entered into the side of the Bastard's

58 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

helm, and by force might have placed him on his knees, but
the king cast down his warder, and the marshal severed them.
The Bastard required that he might perform his enterprise, but
the king gave judgment, as the Bastard relinquished his
challenge."

These were the amusements of the higher orders ; those of
the citizens are also interesting and instructive. " Let us now,"
saith Fitz-stephen, " come to the sports and pastimes, seeing it
is fit that a city should not only be commodious and serious, but
also merry and sportful. In the holidays, all the summer, the
youths are exercised in leaping, dancing, shooting, wrestling,
casting the stone, and practising their shields. The maidens
trip with their timbrels, and dance as long as they can well
see."

These manners continued with little variation to the time of
Henry VIII.

In the infancy of the drama, the young men were taught to
perform in the Holy Mysteries ; one of which was exhibited
in 1391, at the Skinners Well, adjoining Smithfield, which lasted
three days together, the king, queen, and nobles being present ;
and in 1409, one which lasted eight days, and was intended to
represent the Creation. To these succeeded the performance
of tragedies and comedies, then called stage-plays, which have
continued a favourite diversion with your Englishmen ever since
the time

" When sweetest Shakespeare, Fancy's child,
" Warbled his native wood-notes wild."

Bartholomew Fair had now for a long time, instead of three

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR 59

days, lasted a fortnight, and was unquestionably productive of
some habits of dissipation, and much loss of time, among the
lower orders of people who attended it. At length, in 1708,
the magistracy of the city determined to reduce the fair to the
original time of three days, and confine it to its first purpose,
that of selling merchandise only ; and an order of common
council was made accordingly : but seems to have been ill
•obeyed, as in 1735, the court of aldermen came to a resolution
touching Bartholomew Fair, "that it shall not exceed Bartho-
lomew eve, Bartholomew day, and the day after ; and that
during that time nothing but stalls and booths shall be erected
for the sale of goods, wares, and merchandises, and no acting
&e permitted." This order it appears was obeyed no better.
But Southwark Fair, and many others, were at this time
suppressed. Of the acting at Bartholomew Fair, little is known
before the time of Elkannah Settle, who is only now remem-
bered from having been the rival of Dryden, and having been
honoured by Pope with a niche in the Dunciad. Settle was
born in 1648 : in 1680 he was so violent a Whig, that the
ceremony of pope-burning, on the i7th of November, was
entrusted to his management ; he wrote much in defence of
the party, and with the leaders was in high estimation. Poli-
ticians and patriots were formed of much the same materials
then as they are now. Settle being disappointed in some of his
views, became as violent a Tory as he had been a Whig, and
actually entered himself a trooper in King James's army on
Hounslow Heath. The Revolution destroyed all his prospects,
•and in the latter part of his life he was so reduced as to attend
a booth, which was kept by Mrs. Minns, and her daughter,

60 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Mrs. Leigh, in Bartholomew Fair. From these people he
received a salary for writing drolls, which were generally
approved. In his old age he was obliged to appear in these
wretched exhibitions; and in the farce of St. George for England,
performed the part of the dragon in a case of green leather of
his own invention. To this circumstance Dr. Young refers in
his epistle to Pope :

" Poor Elkannah, all other changes past,
" For bread in Smithfield dragons hiss'd at last ;
"Spit streams of fire, to make the butchers gape,
" And found his manners suited to his shape."

In these humble representations some of our greatest actors
made their first appearance, and not a few of them, after they
had attained high eminence, ranted, strutted, and bellowed
through all the days it was kept open, to their own emolument,
and the heartfelt satisfaction of Thames-street beaux and the
black-eyed beauties of Puddle-dock. In 1733, a booth was
built in Smithfield for the use of T. Gibber, Bullock, and
H. Hallum ; at which the tragedy of Tamerlane, with the
Fall of Bajazet, intermixed with the comedy of the Miser,
was actually represented. The bill of fare with which these
gentlemen tempted their customers, may properly enough be
called an olio ; and the royal elephant sheet on which the titles
of the play were printed, throws the comparatively diminutive
bills of a theatre royal into the back ground.

In some of the provinces distant from the capital, dramatic
exhibitions are still given out in the quaint style which marked
the productions of our ancestors. This sometimes excites the

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR 61

laughter of the scholar, but it whets the curiosity of the rustic ;
and whatever helps to fill a theatre, must be the best of all
possible methods. From the mode of announcing some late
productions at the two royal theatres, there seems good reason
to expect, that the admirers of this style of writing will soon be
gratified by having it introduced into the London play-bills, or
at least into the London papers.

But leaving the mighty characters who tread the London
boards to their admirers, let us return to humbler scenes, and
give one example out of many which they annually afford.
A play-bill printed some years ago at Ludloiu, in Shropshire,
was nearly as large as their principal painted scene, and dignified
with letters that were truly CAPITAL, for each of those which
composed the name of a principal character was near a foot
long. The play was for the benefit of a very eminent female
performer, the bills said, to be written by herself, and thus was
the evening's amusement announced :

"For the benefit of Mrs. ******, by particular desire of
B. G. Esq. and his most amiable lady, this present evening
will be performed a deep tragedy, containing the doleful history
of King Lear and his Three Daughters, with the merry conceits
of his majesty's fool, and the valorous exploits of General
Edmund, the Duke of Gloster's bastard. All written by one
William Shakespeare, a mighty great poet, who was born in
Warwickshire, and held horses for gentlemen at the sign of the
Red Bull in St. John's-street, near West Smithfield ; where was
just such another play-house as that to which we humbly invite
you, and hope for the good company of all friends round the
Wrekin."

62 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

"All you who would wish to cry or to laugh,

"You had better spend your money here than in the alehouse by half.

"And if you likes more about these things for to know,

" Come at six o'clock to the barn in the High-street, Ludlow ;

" Where presented by live actors, the whole may be seen :

" So vivant rex, God save the king, not forgetting the Queen ! "

See HOGARTH illustrated by John Ireland.

After Gibber and his companions, Shuter and Yates exhibited
at Bartholomew Fair ; since which time none of the performers
of the theatres royal have had booths there, and the fair has
been reduced to its original term of three days.

J

a

BILINGSGATE

THE accompanying print represents, with great humour
and animation, a scene in this renowned school of British
oratory, an academy from which many illustrious orators,
both of the bar and the senate, have derived that energetic and
forcible manner, which, in honour of the original seminary, is so
emphatically termed Bilingsgate. The power of their eloquence
has raised such a tempest and whirlwind of passion in the gentle
bosoms of two fair disputants, that, forgetting or laying aside the
native softness and delicacy of their sex, they have engaged in
furious combat. One of them is just overthrown by her more
fortunate adversary, but though fallen, her spirit seems to rise
above her fate, and she yet dares the conflict and hopes for
victory. Their sister Naiads on either side encourage and
foment the immortal strife : one of them has fallen with
inconceivable fury on a wretch, who is possibly a Frenchman
and a fiddler, and has probably raised this storm by either
undervaluing the fair one's fish, or having made some mal-a-
propos observation on its degree of freshness ; be this as it may,
he seems to be nearly in as bad a situation as Orpheus,

" When, by the rout that made the hideous roar,
" His goary visage down the stream was sent,
" Down the swift Hebrus to the Lesbian shore."

64 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

It appears highly probable that the ladies who used poor
Orpheus so cruelly, were Grecian Bilingsgates ; and as they
were votaries of Bacchus, and acted under his divine impulse,
it seems to strengthen the opinion : certain it is, that the English
poissardes are as jealous devotees of the jolly god, as the Grecian
Mcenades could be for their lives, and quite as apt to be quarrel-
some in their cups : but this point may be left to the learned to
settle. In the foreground of this print, one of the ladies is so
overcome that she is quite insensible to the kindness of a fisher-
man, who is entreating her to drink another cup of comfort ;
she is equally insensible to the robbery a dog is committing on
her basket of fish. The old citizen buying a turbot, and the
various groups of market people, are delineated with great
spirit and fidelity. The buildings are extremely accurate, the
perspective easy and natural, and the tout-ensemble interesting
and animated.

" Bilingsgate, or, to adapt the spelling to the conjectures of
antiquaries, who go ' beyond the realms of chaos and old night,'
Belin's-gate, or the gate of Belinus, king of Britain, fellow-
adventurer with Brennus, king of the Gauls, at the sacking of
Rome, three hundred and sixty years before the Christian aera :
I submit to the etymology, but must confess there does not
appear any record of a gate at this place. His son Lud was
more fortunate, for Ludgate preserves his memory to every
citizen who knows the just value of antiquity. Gate here
signifies only a place where there was a concourse of people,*
a common quay or wharf, where there is a free going in and

* Skinner's Etymology.

BILINGSGATE 65

out of the same.* This was a small port for the reception of
shipping, and for a considerable time the most important place
for the landing of almost every article of commerce. It was not
till the reign of William III. that it became celebrated as a fish-
market; he, in 1699, by act of Parliament, made it a free port
for fish." This act also settled the tolls and duties to be taken,
appoints a fine of 2O/. to be levied on any fishmonger convicted
of engrossing, and permits the sale of mackarel on Sundays.
The practice of engrossing and regrating still increasing, it
was thought necessary, by an order of the lord mayor, 1 707,
to endeavour to remedy this abuse. The order states, that,
Whereas in and by an act of Parliament made in the tenth and
eleventh years of the reign of King William III. intituled, An
act to make Bilingsgate a free market for fish, &c. it was provided,
that any person might buy or sell any kind of fish in the said
market, and sell them again in any other market by retail. But
the fishmongers bought up the cargoes of the fishermen, and sold
them again in the same market, which considerably enhanced the
price to the consumer : it was therefore ordered, that no fish-
monger, or other person, should sell, or expose to sale, any fish at
Bilingsgate market ; only fishermen, their wives, apprentices, or
servants, were to be permitted to sell in the market by retail, that
the citizens might have the fish at first hand, according to the
true meaning of the law. It was ordered also, that the hours for
the fish-market should be, from Lady-day to Michaelmas, at four
o'clock in the morning, and from Michaelmas to Lady-day, at six
o'clock ; that none presume to buy or sell any fish before those

* Edward the First's grant of Botolph's quay.

66 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

hours, except herrings, sprats, mackarel, and shell-fish, on pain of
being proceeded against as forestallers of the market. Notice of
the opening of the market is given by the ringing of a bell ; the
market continues open till twelve o'clock, when the business
closes for two hours, after which it again commences, and
continues till five in the evening. The whole is under the
jurisdiction of the lord mayor and court of aldermen. A clerk
of the market attends to receive the tolls, &c. ; and he has
authority to order, that all the fish brought into the port shall
be sold in the market, and all fish that he shall deem putrid and
unwholesome, by his order must be destroyed. The business of
the market is now conducted by salesmen, to whom the cargoes
of the boats are consigned by the owners; great quantities of fish
are also brought from the coast by land carriage. About fourteen
or fifteen years since, commenced the practice of bringing fresh
salmon from Newcastle and Berwick, inclosed in boxes of ice,
by which excellent contrivance the inhabitants of London are
supplied with that fish extremely reasonable and in the greatest
perfection.

Pennant gives a curious list of the fish brought to market in
the reign of Edward I. who descended even to regulate the
prices.

s. d.

" The best plaice o i£

" A dozen of best soles o 3

" Best fresh mulvil, i.e. molva, either cod or ling o 3

" Best haddock o 2

" Best barkey o 4

" Best mullet o 2

BILINGSGATE 67

s. d.

*' Best dorac, John Dorec ........................... o 5

" Best conger .......................................... i o

"Bestturbot .......................................... o 6

<( Best bran sard and betule ........................ o 3

" Best mackarel in Lent .............................. o i

" And out of Lent .................................... o Q\

41 Best gurnard .......................................... o i

" Best fresh merlings, i.e. merlangi, whitings, fourfor o i

" Best powdered ditto, twelve for .................. o i

" Best pickled herrings, twenty for ............... o i

" Best fresh ditto, before Michaelmas, six for ... o i

*' Ditto, after Michaelmas, twelve for ............ o i

" Best Thames or Severn lamprey ............... o 4

" Best fresh oysters, a gallon for .................. o 2

<1A piece of rumb, gross and fat, I suspect

holibut, which is usually sold in pieces, at ... o 4

<f Best sea-hog, i.e. porpoise ........................ 6 8

" Best eels, a strike or £ hundred .................. o 2

" Best lampreys in winter, the hundred ......... o 8

" Ditto at other times ................................. o 6

•" These by their cheapness must have been the
little lampreys now used for bait ; but we also
imported lampreys from Nantes, the first

which came in was sold for not less than ... i 4

" A month after at .................................... o 8

" Best fresh salmon, from Christmas to Easter, for 5 o

41 Ditto ditto, after .................................... 3 o

" Best smelts, the hundred ........................... o i

" Best roach in summer .............................. o i

"' Best lucy or pike, at .............................. 6 8

i. — F

68 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

" Among these fish, let me observe the conger is at present
never admitted to any good table ; and to speak of serving up
a porpoise whole, or in part, would set your guests a-staring ; yet
such is the difference of taste, that both these fish were in high
esteem. King Richard's master cooks have left a most excellent
receipt for congur in sawse ;* and as for the other great fish, it
was either to be eaten roasted or salted, or in broth, or furmente
with porpesse. The learned Doctor Caius even tells us the proper
sauce, and says, that it should be the same with that for a dolphin;
another dish unheard of in our days. From the great price the
lucy or pike bore, one may reasonably suspect it was at that time
an exotic fish, and brought over at a vast expence. To this list
of sea-fish, which were in those days admitted to table, may be
added the sturgeon and ling ; and there is twice mention, in
Archbishop Nevill's great feast, of a certain fish, both roasted
and baked, unknown at present, called a thirl-poole."

* Forme of cury.

J

0

Vl

H
o

w

^

a

H

g

69

THE BLUE COAT SCHOOL

THE annexed print represents the greatest public exhibi-
tion made by this noble charity, on St. Matthew's day,
September 2ist.

Two orations are annually pronounced in praise of this institu-
tion, one in Latin and the other in English, by two of the senior
boys, called Grecians, who receive a superior education, being
designed to complete their studies at the universities, one of them
being sent annually to Cambridge, and every three years one is
sent to Oxford. The orations are delivered in the presence of
the governors and their friends, and the masters of the various
schools, &c. in the great hall, a very noble apartment ; the scene
is truly impressive and solemn. The artists have exerted great
ability and judgment in the disposition of such a numerous
assemblage of people, in the distribution of the light and shade,
and the truth of the perspective. The sketch of the very large
picture in the hall adds to the interest.

In the year 1224, eighth Henry III. nine friars of the order
of St. Francis arrived at Dover ; five of them remained at
Canterbury, the other four came to London, where they had
so much influence on the piety or the superstition of the people,
that in the following year John Ewin, mercer, purchased for
them a piece of waste land within Newgate, on which, in about

70 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

twenty years, rose the house and church of the Grey Friars.
The church was one of the most superb of the conventual kind,
and was erected by the contributions of the opulent devout.
Margaret, second queen to Edward I. in 1306, began the choir,
giving in her lifetime 2000 marks, and 100 marks by her testa-
ment. Isabella, queen to Edward II. gave "jol. and queen
Philippa, wife to Edward III. 62/. towards the building. John
de Britagne built the body of the church at a vast expense :
Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, gave twenty great beams
out of his forest at Tunbridge. No order of monks seem to
have had powers of persuasion equal to these poor friars : they
raised vast sums for their buildings among the rich ; and there
were few of their admirers, when they came to die, who did
not console themselves with the thoughts of lying within their
expiating walls, and if they were particularly wicked, thought
themselves secure from the assault of the devil, if their corpse
was wrapped in the habit and cowl of a friar. Multitudes,
therefore, of all ranks were crowded in this holy ground : it
boasts of receiving four queens, Margaret and Isabella above-
mentioned ; Joan, daughter to Edward II. and wife of Edward
Bruce, king of Scotland ; and to make the fourth, Isabella, wife
to William Warren, titular King of Man, is named. Of these,
Isabella, whom GRAY so strongly stigmatizes

" She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,
" That tear'st the bowels of thy mangled mate,"

I hope was wrapped in the friar's garment, for few stood more
in need of a daemonifuge. With wonderful hypocrisy, she was
buried with the heart of her murdered husband on her breast.

THE BLUE COAT SCHOOL 71

John, Due de Bourbon, one of the noble prisoners taken at the
battle of Agincourt, after eighteen years imprisonment, in 1443
here found a tomb.

In the same ground lies Thomas Burdett, Esq. ancestor of the
present Sir Francis Burdett, He had a white buck, which he
was particularly fond of : this the king, Edward IV. happened
to kill. Burdett> in anger, wished the horns in the person's body
who advised the king to it : for this he was tried, as wishing evil
to his sovereign, and for this only, lost his head.

To the regret of the lovers of antiquity, all these ancient
monuments and gravestones were sold, in 1545, by Sir Martin
Bowes, lord mayor, for about 5O/.

The library founded here in 1429, by the munificent Whitting-
ton, must not be forgotten: it was 129 feet long, 31 broad. In
three years it was filled with books to the value of 556/. of which
Sir Richard contributed 4OO/. and Dr. Thomas Winchelsey, a
friar, supplied the rest. This was about thirty years before the
invention of printing.

On the dissolution, this fine church, after being spoiled of its
ornaments for the king's use, was made a storehouse for French
prizes, and the monuments either sold or mutilated.

Henry, just before his death, touched with remorse, granted
the convent and church to the city, and caused the church to be
opened for divine service.

The building belonging to the friars was by Edward VI.
applied to this useful charity. That amiable young prince did
not require to be stimulated to good actions ; but it is certain,
that, after a sermon of exhortation by Ridley, bishop of London,
he founded the three great hospitals in this city, judiciously

72 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

adapted to provide for the necessities of the poor, divided into
three classes : Christ-Church Hospital for the orphan, St.
Thomas's Hospital for the diseased, and Bridewell for the
thriftless. After the sermon, Edward ordered the good bishop
to attend him. The account of this interview is very interesting,
and as Stow relates it as a matter of fact from the word of the
bishop, I shall extract a part of it verbatim.

" As soon as the sermon was ended, the king willing him not
depart until that he had spoken to him, and this that I now
write was the very report of the said Bishop Ridley, who,
according to the king's command, gave his attendance ; and so
soon as the king's majesty was at leisure, he called for him to
come unto him in a great gallery at Westminster ; where, to his
knowledge, and the king told him so, there was present no
more persons but they two, and therefore made him sit down
in one chair, and he himself in another, which, as it seemed,
were before the bishop purposely set, and caused the bishop,
maugre his teeth, to be covered, and then entered communica-
tion with him in this manner :

" First giving him hearty thanks for his sermon and good
exhortation for the relief of the poor, 'But, my lord,' quoth he,
'•you willed such as are in authority to be careful thereof, and
to devise some good order for their relief, wherein I think you
mean me, for I am the first that must make answer to God for
my negligence, if I should not be careful therein, knowing it to
be the express command of Almighty God to have compassion of
his poor and needy members, for whom we must make account
unto him. And truly, my lord, I am before all things else most
willing to travail that way ; and I, doubting nothing of your

THE BLUE COAT SCHOOL 73

long and approved wisdom and learning, who having such good
zeal as wisheth help unto them, but also that you have had some
conference with others what ways are best to be taken therein,
the which I am desirous to understand, and therefore I pray you
to say your mind!

"The bishop was so amazed and astonished at the goodness
and earnest zeal of the king, that he could not tell what to say :
but, after some pause, advised him to begin with the city of
London ; and requested the king to direct his gracious letters
to the lord mayor, to consult with such assistants as he thought
fit on what might best be done, the bishop promising to assist
them in their deliberations.

" To this the king agreed, but made the bishop wait till the
letter was written, which having signed and sealed, he gave it
to the bishop, desiring him to make all convenient speed, and
to let him know the result as early as possible. The bishop
the same night delivered the king's letter to the then mayor,
Sir Richard Dobbs, Knight ; who the next day sent for two
aldermen and six commoners, which were afterwards increased
to twenty-four, who, with the good bishop, after various con-
sultations, composed a book on the state of the poor in London.

" This book was presented to the king, who immediately
founded the three royal hospitals. For the maintenance of
Christ's Hospital, he gave some lands of the value of 6oo/. per
annum, which had been given to the Savoy, a house founded
by Henry VII. for the lodging of pilgrims and strangers, but
had declined from its original intention, and had become the
resort of vagabonds, who strolled about the fields all day, and
were harboured there at night. And for a further relief, a

74 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

petition being presented to the king for a licence to take in
mortmain lands to a certain yearly value, he ordered the patent
to be brought to him, and with his own hand filled the blank
space with 4000 marks by the year ; and then said, in the
hearing of his council, ' Lord, I yield thee most hearty thankst
that thou hast given me life thus long to finish this work to
the glory of thy name.' "

In two days after this excellent youth expired, in the sixteenth
year of his age and the seventh of his reign, not without
suspicion of his end being hastened by the ambitious Northum-
berland.

"All the English historians dwell with pleasure on the ex-
cellent qualities of this young prince. The flattering promises
of hope, joined to many real virtues, made him an object of
tender affection to the public : he possessed mildness of dis-
position, application to study and business, a capacity to learn
and judge, and an attachment to equity and justice." — HUME.

Christ's Hospital, Bridewell, and St. Thomas the Apostle in
South wark, are incorporated by the name of, " The Mayor,
Commonalty, and Citizens of the City of London, Governors of
the Possessions, Revenues, and Goods of the Hospitals of
Edward VI. King of England"

It was not till the year 1552, five years after the king's grant,
that the house of the Grey Friars was fitted up for the reception
of the children : they completed it in the same year, and called
it Christ's Hospital ; and in September, they took in near four
hundred orphans, and clothed them in russet; but ever after
they wore blue cloth coats, their present habit, which consists
of a blue cloth coat, close to the body, having petticoat skirts

THE BLUE COAT SCHOOL 75

to the ancle, yellow under-petticoat, yellow stockings, and a
flat round worsted cap : their shoes are tied with strings, from
the quantity of which the various classes are distinguishable.
In addition to this catalogue of their dress, they have of late
years added a pair of breeches made of ticken, for which in-
dulgence the boys gave up their meat suppers, to which they
were before entitled, and have bread and cheese instead. Their
fare is plain and wholesome, and they sleep in wards kept in a
very clean state. There are at present about one thousand
boys on this establishment, distributed into thirteen wards. The
governors have established a school at Hertford, to which they
send the youngest of the children, generally to the number of
three hundred, who are taken into the house as room is made
by apprenticing off the elder. It is between thirty and forty
years since the girls were removed from London to be wholly
educated at Hertford : all the girls are educated at this school.

At the instigation of Sir Robert Clayton, lord mayor, who
was a great benefactor, Charles II. founded the mathematical
school, to which he granted 7ooo/. to be paid out of a certain
fund at 5OO/. per annum, for the educating forty boys for the
sea : of these boys, ten are yearly put out apprentices to merchant
vessels, and in their places ten more received.

Another mathematical school, for thirty-seven other boys, was
afterwards founded by Mr. Travers ; but these boys are not
obliged to go to sea. Many able mathematicians and seamen
have sprung from these institutions.

The hospital being nearly destroyed by the fire of London,
the greater part was rebuilt under the direction of Sir Christopher
Wren. The writing school was founded in 1694, by Sir John

76 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Moor, alderman, who is honoured with a statue in front of the
building. It is altogether a very extensive building, consisting
of many irregular parts ; the south front, adjoining Newgate-
street, is perhaps the best. The cloisters, the only remains of
the conventual house, serve for a thoroughfare, and for a place
for the boys to play in. The great hall, a spacious and noble
room, was built, after the fire of London, at the sole charge
of Sir Joshua Frederic, alderman of London, and cost him
SOCK)/.: it is 130 feet long, 34 wide, and 44 in height. In this
hall is an extraordinary large picture, by Verrio, of King
James II. amidst his courtiers, receiving the president of this
hospital, several of the governors, and numbers of the children,
all kneeling : one of the governors, with a grey head, and some
of the children, are admirably painted. The history of this
picture is curious : it was intended to have represented Charles 1 1.
who founded the mathematical school ; but he dying while the
picture was in hand, James, who never did any thing for the
charity, had his own portrait introduced, together with that of
the execrable Jefferies, then lord chancellor : Verrio has in-
troduced his own portrait in a long wig. The founder is repre-
sented in another picture giving the charter to the governors,
who are in their red gowns kneeling ; the boys and girls are
ranged in two rows : a bishop, probably Ridley, * is in the
picture. If this was the work of Holbein, it has certainly been
much injured by repair. There is also a fine picture of

* So dreadful is the rage of religious persecution, that even this benevolent and
virtuous prelate could not escape its fury : he was burnt for heresy at Oxford, together
with Latimer, bishop of Worcester, by order of Mary, 1555.

THE BLUE COAT SCHOOL 77

Charles II. in his robes, with a great flowing black wig: at a
distance is a sea view, with shipping ; and about him a globe,
sphere, telescope, &c. : it was painted by Sir Peter Lely, in
1662.

In this hall the children are daily assembled to their meals :
prayers are read by one of the senior boys, and hymns are sung
by the children, for which purpose it is furnished with a pulpit ;
and an organ is played during the time of supper. These
public suppers commence the first Sunday after Christmas, and
end on Easter Sunday : the time of supping is from six o'clock
till half past seven.

The following order has been recently hung up near the
-entrance of the hall :

PUBLIC SUPPERS.

" Ordered, That no person be admitted within the great hall
unless introduced by a governor."

But the grand anniversary held in this hall is on St. Matthew's
day, an account of which accompanies the print.

In the court-room is a three-quarters length of Edward VI.
a most beautiful portrait, and indisputably by Holbein.

In this room are also the portraits of two great benefactors
to this hospital, and persons of the most enlarged and general
benevolence, Sir Wolstan Dixie, lord mayor of London 1585,
.and Dame Mary Ramsay, wife of Sir Thomas Ramsay, lord
mayor 1557.

In a room entirely lined with stone, are kept the records,
-deeds, and other writings of the hospital. One of the books
is a curious piece of antiquity ; it is the earliest record of the

78 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

hospital, and contains the anthem sung by the first children,
very beautifully illuminated.

The writing school is a handsome modern building of brick,
supported by pillars, forming a spacious covered walk.

The grammar school is a plain brick building, more recently
erected.

The permanent revenues of Christ's' Hospital are great, from
royal and private donations in houses and lands ; but without
voluntary subscriptions they are inadequate to the present
establishment.

By the grant of the city, the governors license the carts
allowed to ply in the city, to the number of two hundred and
forty, who pay a small sum for this privilege. They also receive
a duty of about three farthings upon every piece of cloth
brought to Blackwell Hall, granted by acts of common council.

The expenditure of this hospital is immense, being at present
about 3O,ooo/. per annum.

The governors, who choose their own officers and servants,
are unlimited in their number. A donation of 4OO/. makes a
governor : formerly the sum was less, but the office of governor
being one of great trust, and of serious importance in its effect
to the public, an enlargement of the sum was wisely adopted.

The governors of Christ's Hospital have been made trustees
to several other extensive charities by their founders. Among
these charities, there is one of io/. each, for life, to four hundred
blind men. This ought to be known, because these funds have
been often confounded with those of Christ's Hospital, which
they do not in the least augment, the governors not being at
liberty to apply such funds to any of the uses of the hospital.

THE BLUE COAT SCHOOL 79

The greater part of the buildings belonging to this noble
institution being through age in a state of irreparable decay,
the governors have lately resolved to rebuild the whole upon
a plan of uniformity and magnificence.

The present officers of Christ's Hospital are,

President, Sir John William Anderson, Bart. Alderman.

Treasurer, James Palmer, Esq.

Physician, Richard Budd, M.D.

Surgeon, Thomas Ramsden, Esq.

Apothecary, Mr. Henry Field.

Chief Clerk, Richard Corp, Esq.

Receiver, Mr. Thomas Whilby.

Assistant clerks, Mr. Matthew Cotton and Mr. James White.

Grammar master, Rev. Arthur William Trollop, M.A.

Under grammar master, Rev. L. P. Stephens, M.A.

Master of the reading school, Ralph Peacock, M.A.

Master of the mathematics, Mr. Lawrence Gwynne.

Master of the mathematics on Mr. Travers's foundation,

Rev. Thomas Edwards, M.A.

Writing masters, Mr. J. Allen and Mr. T. Goddard.
Drawing master, Mr. John Wells.*
Music master, Mr. Robert Hudson.
Steward, Mr. Matthew Hathaway.

* About the year 1721, a drawing master was added to the establishment: Mr.
Bernard Lens was the first ; to him succeeded the late Mr. Green ; the present
gentleman is the third who has held the office.

8o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

AT HERTFORD.

Grammar master and catechist, Rev. F. W. Franklin, M.A.

Steward and upper writing master, Mr. Benjamin Flude.

Second writing master, Mr. Henry Rix Whittel.

Surgeon and apothecary, Mr. Colbeck.

Matron, Mrs. Royd.

Girls' schoolmistress, Mrs. Ann Sparrow.

Second ditto, Miss Eliza Payne.

On the admission of a governor, the following serious and
impressive charge is solemnly given him, in the presence of the
president, or treasurer, and other governors assembled in court :

" Worshipful!

" The cause of your repair hither at this
present is, to give you knowledge, that you are elected and
appointed by the lord mayor and court of aldermen, to the
office, charge, and governance of Christ's Hospital.

"And, therefore, this is to require you and every of you,
that you endeavour yourselves, with all your wisdom and power,
faithfully and diligently to serve in this vocation and calling,
which is an office of high trust and worship : for ye are called
to be the faithful distributors and disposers of the goods of
Almighty God to his poor and needy members ; in the which
office and calling if ye shall be found negligent and unfaithful,
ye shall not only declare yourselves to be the most unthankful
and unworthy servants of Almighty God, being put in trust to
see the relief and succour of his poor and needy flock ; but also
ye shall shew yourselves to be very notable and great enemies

THE BLUE COAT SCHOOL

81

to that work, which most highly doth advance and beautify the
commonwealth of this realm, and chiefly of the city of London.

" These, therefore, are to require you, and every of you, that
ye here promise, before God and this assembly of your fellow-
governors, faithfully to travail in this your office and calling,
that this work may have his perfection, and that the needy
number committed to your charge be diligently and wholesomely
provided for, as you will answer before God at the hour and
time when you and we shall stand before him, to render an
account of our doings. And this promising to do, you shall be
now admitted into this company and fellowship."

82

BOW-STKEET OFFICE

THE annexed print gives an accurate representation of
this celebrated office at the time of an examination : the
characters are marked with much strength and humour,
and the general effect broad and simple.

This office has the largest jurisdiction of any in the metropolis,
its authority extending to every part of his majesty's domin-
ions, except the city of London, which is governed by its own
magistrates.

Bow-street is, in a peculiar sense, the government office,
besides acting as a police office in concert with the others, whose
power extends only within a certain district. The police of this
country has hitherto been very imperfect : the celebrated Henry
Fielding was the first, who, by his abilities, contributed to the
security of the public, by the detection and prevention of crimes.
In August 1753, while a Bow-street magistrate, he was sent for
by the Duke of Newcastle, on account of the number of street-
robberies and murders committed nightly, and desired by the
duke to form some plan for the detection and dispersion of the
dreadful gangs of robbers by whom they were committed.
Fielding wrote a plan, and offered to clear the streets of them,
if he might have 6oo/. at his own disposal. The duke approved
of his plan ; and in a few days after he had received 2OO/. of the

BOW- STREET OFFICE 83

money, the whole gang was entirely dispersed ; seven of them
were in actual custody, and the rest driven, some out of town,
and others out of the kingdom ; and so fully had his plan
succeeded, that in the entire freedom from street-robberies and
murders, the winter of 1753 stands unrivalled during a course
of many years. At this time the only profit arising to the
magistrate was from the fees of his office : of the profits arising
from these sources, however, Fielding had no very high opinion ;
after complaining that his maladies were much increased by his
unremitted attention to his public duties, and having at that time
a jaundice, a dropsy, and an asthma, he retired into the country,
and from thence went to Lisbon, where he died. The following
extract presents an agreeable specimen of that lively writer, still
animated in all his sufferings, and it also gives a correct idea
of the business of an active and upright magistrate at that
time.

Fielding had been advised to try the Bath waters, but in
consequence of the message from the Duke of Newcastle, and
his exertions to free the metropolis from the desperate gangs
of villains that infested it, his health considerably declined, and
his was no longer a case in which the Bath waters are con-
sidered efficacious. The following account of himself and his
office is from his Voyage to Lisbon :

" I had vanity enough to rank myself with those heroes of old
times, who became voluntary sacrifices to the good of the public.
But lest the reader should be too eager to catch at the word
vanity, I will frankly own, that I had a stronger motive than the
love of the public to push me on : I will therefore confess to him,
that my private affairs, at the beginning of the winter, had but
i. — G

84 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

a gloomy appearance ; for I had not plundered the public or the
poor of those sums which men who are always ready to plunder
both of as much as they can, have been pleased to suspect me
of taking ; on the contrary, by composing the quarrels of porters
and beggars, which I blush to say hath not been universally
practised, and by refusing to take a shilling from a man who most
undoubtedly would not have had another left, I had reduced
an income of about 5OO/.* a year of the dirtiest money upon
earth, to little more than 3<x>/. an inconsiderable proportion of
which remained with my clerk ; and indeed if the whole had
done so, as it ought, he would have been ill paid for sitting
sixteen hours in the twenty-four in the most unwholesome as well
as nauseous air in the universe."

That this was the practice of Fielding, there can be no doubt :
but that the conduct of some other justices was very flagrant,
is equally indisputable ; and the memory of the trading justices

* " A predecessor of mine used to boast, that he made iooo/. a year in his office ; but
how he did it, is to me a secret. His clerk, now mine, told me I had had more business
than he had ever known there ; I am sure I had as much as any man could do. The
truth is, that the fees are so very low, when any are due, and so much is done for
nothing, that if a single justice of the peace had business enough to employ twenty
clerks, neither he nor they would get much by their labour. The public will not there-
fore, I hope, think I betray a secret when I inform them, that I received from govern-
ment a yearly pension out of the public service money ; which I believe indeed would
have been larger, had my great patron been convinced of an error which I have heard
him utter more than once : — that he could not indeed say that the acting as a principal
justice in Westminster was on all accounts very desirable, but that all the world knew it
was a very lucrative office. Now to have shewn him plainly, that a man must be a
rogue to make a very little this way, and that he could not make much by being as great
a rogue as he could be, would have required more confidence than I believe he had in
me, and more of his conversation than he chose to allow me ; I therefore resigned the
office, and the farther execution of my plan, to my brother."

BOW- STREET OFFICE 85

of Westminster, and Clerkenwell in particular, are handed down
with abhorrence and contempt.

To Henry Fielding succeeded his brother, Sir John, who was
many years an able and active magistrate.

Patrick Colquhoun, Esq. in his excellent work on the Police,
exposed the defects of the system, and the necessity of a reform.
It was taken into consideration by Parliament, and in 1792 an
act was passed for that purpose, which established seven offices,
besides Bow-street and the Marine Police ; settled salaries were
appointed to the magistrates, and the fees and penalties of the
whole paid into the hands of a receiver, to make a fund for the
paying these salaries and other incidental expences. This act
of the 32d Geo. III. was amended by an act of the 37th, and
by another of the 42d.

The present magistrates of Bow-street Office, 1808, are,

James Reed, Esq ^1000 per annum.

Aaron Graham, Esq 500

John Nares, Esq 500

Three clerks and eight officers.

It is impossible to make many extracts from Mr. Colquhoun's
valuable book. It is the basis of his system, that the numerous
tribes of receivers in this metropolis are the great cause of
the vice and immorality so widely prevalent, by the easy mode
they hold out to the pilferer of disposing of what he has
stolen, without his being asked any questions. There are up-
wards of three thousand receivers of stolen goods in the metro-

86 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

polls alone, and a proportionate number dispersed all over the
kingdom.

Impressed with a deep sense of the utility of investigating the
nature of the police system, the select committee of the House
of Commons on finance, turned their attention to this, among
many other important objects, in the session of the year 1798;
and after a laborious investigation, during which Mr. Colquhoun
was many times personally examined, they made their final
report ; in which they recommended it to Parliament to establish
funds, to be placed under the direction of the receiver-general
of the police offices, and a competent number of commissioners :
these funds to arise from the licensing of hawkers and pedlars,
and hackney coaches, together with other licence duties proposed,
fees, penalties, &c.; their payments subject to the approbation
of the lords commissioners of the Treasury : the police magis-
trates to be empowered to make bye-laws, for the regulation of
the minor objects of the police, such as relate to the controul
of all coaches, carts, drivers, &c. and the removal of all annoy-
ances, &c. subject to the approbation of the judges.

They recommended also the establishment of two additional
police offices in the city of London, but not without the consent
of the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council being pre-
viously obtained ; and their authority to extend over the four
counties of Middlesex, Kent, Essex, and Surry ; and that of the
other eight offices over the whole metropolis and the four
counties also.

"It is proposed to appoint counsel for the crown, with
moderate salaries, to conduct all criminal prosecutions.

" The keeping a register of the various lodging-houses.

BOW- STREET OFFICE 87

" The establishment of a police gazette,* to be circulated at
a low price, and furnished gratis to all persons under the superin-
tendence of the board, who shall pay a licence duty to a certain
amount."

The two leading objects in the report are,

i St. The prevention of crimes and misdemeanours by bringing
under regulations a variety of dangerous and suspicious trades, f
the uncontrouled exercise of which by persons of loose conduct,
is known to contribute in a very high degree to the concealment,
and by that means, to the encouragement and multiplication of
crimes.

2d. To raise a moderate revenue for police purposes from the
persons who shall be thus controuled, by means of licence duties
and otherwise, so managed as not to become a material burden ;
while a confident hope is entertained, that the amount of this
revenue will go a considerable length in relieving the finances
of the country of the expences at present incurred for objects
of police ; and that in the effect of the general system a consider-

* This paper is called The Public Hue and Cry, a police gazette, published every
third Saturday in the month, at No. 240, Strand, and sent to the principal magistrates
gratis.

t The trades alluded to are the following :

1. Wholesale and retail dealers in naval stores, hand-stuff, and rags.

2. Dealers in old iron and other metals.

3. Dealers in second-hand wearing apparel, stationary and itinerant.

4. Founders and others using crucibles.

5. Persons using draught and truck carts for conveying stores, rags, and metals.

6. Persons licensed to slaughter horses.

7. Persons keeping livery stables and letting horses for hire.

8. Auctioneers who hold periodical or diurnal sales.

The new revenues are estimated to yield 64,0007. The increase of the existing
erenues is stated at 19,4677. Total, 83,4677.

88 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

able saving will arise, in consequence of the expected diminution
of crimes, particularly as the chief part of the expence appears
to arise after the delinquents are convicted.*

As the leading feature of the report is the security of the
rights of the innocent with respect to their life, property, and
convenience, this will not only be effected by increasing the
difficulty of perpetrating offences, through a controul over those
trades by which they are facilitated and promoted ; but also by
adding to the risk of detection, by a more prompt and certain
mode of discovery wherever crimes are committed. Thus must
the idle and profligate be compelled to assist the state by resort-
ing to habits of industry, while the more incorrigible delinquents
will be intimidated and deterred from pursuing a course of
turpitude and criminality, which the energy of the police will
render too hazardous and unprofitable to be followed as a trade ;
and the regular accession of numbers to recruit and strengthen
the hordes of criminal delinquents who at present infest society,
will be in a great measure prevented.

* The amount of the general expence of the criminal police of the kingdom, is

stated by the committee as follows :

ist. The annual average of the total expence of the seven public
offices in the metropolis, from the institution in August 1792, to the
end of the year 1797 ^18,281 18 6

2d. Total expence of the office in Bow-street in the year 1797, in-
cluding remunerations to the magistrates in lieu of fees, perquisites,
&c. and the expence of a patrol of sixty-eight persons 7,901 7 7

Total for the metropolis 26,183 6 I

The other expences incurred for the prosecution and conviction of
felons, the maintenance, clothing, employment, and transportation
of convicts, to which may be added the farther sums annually
charged on the county rates, amounted in 1797 to 215,869 13 loj

BOW- STREET OFFICE 89

Of the vigilance of the French system of police just before the
Revolution, Mr. Colquhoun speaks highly. This system, which
though neither necessary nor even proper to be copied as a
pattern, might nevertheless furnish many useful hints, calculated
to improve ours, and perfectly consistent with the existing laws ;
it might even extend and increase the liberty of the subject, with-
out taking one privilege away, or interfering in the pursuits of
any one class, except those employed in purposes of mischief,
fraud, and criminality.

An anecdote related, on the authority of a foreign minister long
resident at Paris, by Mr. C. will give a good idea of the secrecy
of their system.

"A merchant of high respectability in Bourdeaux, had occasion
to visit the metropolis upon commercial concerns, carrying with
him bills and money to a very large amount.

" On his arrival at the gates of Paris, a genteel-looking man
opened the door of his carriage, and addressed him to this
effect : — 'Sir, I have been waiting for you some time : according to
my notes, you were to arrive at this hour; and your person, your
carriage, and your portmanteau, exactly answering the description
I hold in my hand, you will permit me to have the honour of con-
ducting you to Monsieur de Sartine.'

"The gentleman, astonished and alarmed at this interruption,
and still more so at hearing the name of the lieutenant of the police
mentioned, demanded to know what M. de Sartine wanted with
him ; adding, at the same time, that he never had committed any
offence against the laws, and that they could have no right to
interrupt and detain him.

"The messenger declared himself perfectly ignorant of the

90 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

cause of this detention ; stating, at the same time, that when he
had conducted him to M. de Sartine, he should have executed his
orders, which were merely official.

"After some further explanations, the gentleman permitted the
officer to conduct him to M. de Sartine, who received him with
great politeness, and requesting him to be seated, to his great
astonishment, described his portmanteau, and told him the exact
sum in bills and specie which he had brought to Paris, where he
was to lodge, his usual time of going to bed, and a number of
other circumstances, which the gentleman had conceived could
only be known to himself.

" M. de Sartine having thus excited attention, put this extra-
ordinary question to him — 'Sir, are you a man of courage?' The
gentleman, still more astonished at the singularity of such an
interrogatory, demanded the reason why he put such a strange
question ; adding, at the same time, that no man ever doubted
his courage. M. de Sartine replied, 'Sir, you are to be robbed
and murdered this night ! If you are a man of courage, you
must go to your hotel, and retire to rest at the usual hour ; but be
careful that you do not fall asleep ; neither will it be proper for
you to look under your bed, or into any of the closets which are in
your bedchamber : you must place your portmanteau in its usual
situation near your bed, and discover no suspicion : — leave what
remains to me. If, however, you do not feel your courage sufficient
to bear you out, I will procure a person who shall personate you,
and go to bed in your stead'

" The gentleman being convinced, in the course of the con-
versation, that M. de Sartine's intelligence was accurate in every
particular, refused to be personated, and formed an immediate

BOW- STREET OFFICE 91

resolution literally to follow the directions he had received. He
accordingly went to bed at his usual hour, which was eleven
o'clock : at half past twelve (the time mentioned by M. de
Sartine), the door of the bedchamber was burst open, and three
men entered with a dark lantern, daggers, and pistols. The
gentleman, who was awake, perceived one of them to be his own
servant. They rifled his portmanteau undisturbed, and settled
the plan of putting him to death. The gentleman, hearing all
this, and not knowing by what means he was to be rescued, it
may naturally be supposed was under great perturbation of mind
during this awful interval ; but at the moment the villains were
prepared to commit the murder, four police officers, acting under
M. de Sartine s orders, who were concealed under the bed and in
the closet, rushed out and seized the offenders with the property
in their possession, and in the act of preparing to complete their
plan."

BEIDEWELL

THE annexed print gives an accurate and interesting view
of this abode of wretchedness, the PASS- ROOM. It was
provided by a late act of Parliament, that paupers, claim-
ing settlements in distant parts of the kingdom, should be confined
for seven days previous to their being sent off to their respective
parishes ; and this is the room appointed by the magistracy of
the city for one class of miserable females. The characters
are finely varied, the general effect broad and simple, and the
perspective natural and easy.

Bridewell, as early as King John, was a royal palace, formed
partly out of the remains of an ancient castle, the western Arx
Palatina of the city, and the residence of several of our
monarchs ; but in process of time became neglected : till, in
1522, Henry VIII. rebuilt it in a most magnificent manner, for
the reception of the Emperor Charles V. who in that year paid
him a visit : Charles was, however, lodged in Black Friars, and
his suite in the new palace. A gallery of communication was
thrown over Fleet-Ditch, and a passage cut through the city wall
to the emperor's apartments. Henry often lodged here, par-
ticularly in 1529, when the question of his marriage with Queen
Catherine was agitated in Black Friars. It fell afterwards to
decay, and was begged by the pious Prelate Ridley from

BRIDEWELL 93

Edward VI. to be converted to some charitable purpose : that
of a house of correction for vagabonds of each sex and all
denominations was determined on. It also answers another
purpose ; it is a foundation for youth who are bound apprentices
to different trades under what are called ARTS - MASTERS* ; and
forms part of the great plan of benevolence adopted by the
amiable Edward VI. when he endowed the city hospitals, of
which this is one. It is situated in BRIDGE- STREET, BLACK
FRIARS, and gives the name to Bridewell precinct in the neigh-
bourhood ; the whole building forms a square, consisting of the
houses of the arts-masters, who are six in number, the prisons for
the men and women, the committee-room, and a chapel.

The men's prison is a good brick building, on the western side,
consisting of thirty-six sleeping-rooms, and seven other apart-
ments. Every man has a room to himself, containing a bedstead,
straw in a sacking, a blanket, and coverlet. The other rooms
consist of workshops, a sick-room, which is a very comfortable
apartment, and a larger, in which idle apprentices are confined
separate from the other prisoners. In the working-room are
junk and oakum, which the prisoners pick, and mills where they
grind corn. The task-master's apartments, and the women's
prison, which is separate from the men's, are on this western side.
The committee-room is on the south side, where a committee of
the governors meet every week to examine the prisoners. There
.are excellent regulations to this prison : in the cellar is a bath, in

* These arts-masters were originally decayed tradesmen, and consisted of shoe-
makers, taylors, flax-dressers, orris and silk-weavers, &c. The apprentices used to be
distinguished by a blue jacket and trowsers, and a white hat : their dress is now in the
form of other people's, distinguished only by a button bearing the head of the founder.

94 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

which the prisoners are occasionally washed ; but there is no yard
for them to walk in, which is a great defect in any house of this
description.

The original plan of this hospital, combined and incorporated
with the hospitals of Christ and St. Thomas, was so benevolent,
and of such comprehensive utility, that it is worthy to be followed,
improved, and completely executed, by the wisest and best of
men, in the wisest and best of times. It was to "train up the
beggar's child to virtuous industry, so that from him no more
beggars should spring ; to succour the aged and the diseased ; to
relieve the decayed housekeeper and the indigent ; and to compel
the wretched street- walker and the vagabond to honest labour."
Its design was, to include every class of the unfortunate, the
helpless, and the depraved. To effect this, the governors were
instituted, and are, as a body corporate, empowered to make
" all manner of wholesome and honest ordinances, statutes, and
rules, for the good government of the poor in Bridewell. " Many
very important alterations have taken place in this hospital
within the last century, particularly in the years 1792 and 1793.
Pennant, whose account of London was published in 1793, states
the number of arts-masters at twenty ; they are now reduced to
six. The number of apprentices taught and maintained, he does
not state ; in the year 1717, they amounted to one hundred and
three received within the year, and in 1718, to ninety-four. — Vide
SPEED. The apprentices are now reduced to thirty.

The late improvements in the buildings at Bridewell have been
very great. The entrance is by a very noble front, of the Doric
order ; on the key-stone of the arch is a head of the illustrious
founder. The apartments in this center are destined for the

BRIDEWELL 95

residence of the chamberlain of the city of London, who is also
treasurer. Adjoining this building are six new houses, corre-
sponding with the other houses in Bridge-street, the back parts
of which occupy what was before a court-yard, in which resided
several of the arts-masters. A new chapel, and a very noble
apartment called the committee-room, complete the improvements
on the eastern and principal side. On the north have been some
alterations. The male prisoners are removed to a new building
erected on the western side ; and the arts-masters, who lived on
that site, are removed to houses erected for them on the north
side.

The court-room is an interesting piece of antiquity, as on its
site were held courts of justice, and probably parliaments, under
our early kings. At the upper end are the old arms of England ;
and it is wainscotted to a certain height with English oak, orna-
mented with carved work. This oak was formerly of that solemn
colour which it attains by age, and was relieved by the carving
being gilt. It must have been no small effort of ingenuity to
destroy at one stroke all this venerable time-honoured grandeur :
it was, however, happily achieved by daubing over with paint the
fine veins and polish of the old oak, to make a very bad imitation
of the pale modern wainscot ; and other decorations are added in
a similar taste.

On the upper part of the wall are the names, in gold letters, of
benefactors to the hospital : the dates commence with 1 565 and
end with 1713. This is said to have been the court in which the
sentence of divorce was pronounced against Catherine of Arragon,
which had been concluded on in the opposite monastery of the
Black Friars.

96 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

From this room is the entrance into the hall, which is a very
noble one: at the upper end is a picture, by Holbein, representing
Edward VI. delivering the charter of the hospital to Sir George
Barnes, then lord mayor ; near him are William, Earl of Pem-
broke, and Thomas Goodrich, Bishop of Ely. There are ten
figures in the picture, besides the king, whose portrait is painted
with great truth and feeling : it displays all that languor and
debility which mark an approaching dissolution, and which
unhappily followed so soon after, together with that of the
painter, that it has been sometimes doubted whether the picture
was really painted by Holbein : his portrait, however, is intro-
duced ; it is the furthest figure in the corner on the right hand,
looking over the shoulders of the persons before him.

On one side of this picture is a portrait of Charles II. sitting,
and on the other that of James II. standing; they are both
painted by Sir Peter Lely. Round the room are several portraits
of the presidents and different benefactors, ending with that of
Sir Richard Carr Glyn. The walls of this room are covered with
the names of those who have been friends to the institution,
written in letters of gold.

The new committee-room is finely proportioned, and in a very
good style of architecture ; as is the new chapel, which is divided
from it by the portico, and which together occupy the whole back
front of the eastern range of buildings.

The following is a list of the present officers of this hospital
and Bethlem, founded by Edward VI. 1553 :

President of both Hospitals, Sir Richard Carr Glyn, Bart.
Alderman.

BRIDEWELL 97

Treasurer to ditto, Richard Clark, Esq. Chamberlain of the
city of London.

Chaplain at Bridewell, Rev. Henry Budd, B.A.

Physician to both, Thomas Munro, M.D.

Surgeon to ditto, Bryan Crowther, Esq.

Apothecary to ditto, Mr. John Haslam.

Clerk to ditto, Mr. John Poynder.

Steward to Bridewell, accomptant and receiver to both, Mr.
Bolton Hudson.

Porter to Bridewell, Richard Weaver.

Matron to ditto, Mary Rundle.

THE BKITISH INSTITUTION,

FOR PROMOTING THE FINE ARTS
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

FOUNDED JUNE 4, 1805 — OPENED JANUARY 1 8, 1806

The Kings Most Excellent Majesty, Patron.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Vice-Patron.

The Earl of Dartmouth, President.

THE avowed purpose of this excellent Institution was,
to give to the painters a facility in selling their works,
and to form a school of painting for the rising genera-
tion, by furnishing exemplars by the old masters, from the
collections of the nobility and gentry who formed and supported
the plan.

At a meeting of subscribers of fifty guineas or upwards, in

June 1805,

PRESENT,

The Earl of Dartmouth in the chair,

VICE-PRESIDENTS,

The Marquis of Abercorn, John Egerton, Esq. Samuel Lysons, Esq.
Sir Francis Baring, Bart. William Fitzhugh, Esq. M.P. P. Metcalf, Esq. M.P.

Sir George Beaumont, Bart. Sir A. Hume, Bart. W. Morland, Esq. M.P.

Right Hon. Isaac Corry, M.P. Henry Hope, Esq. Lord Somerville,

Thomas Bernard, Esq. Thomas Hope, Esq. W. Smith, Esq., M.P.

Lord de Dunstanville, Lord Viscount Lowther, Richard Troward, Esq.

CharlesDuncombe.Esq.M.P. E. L. Loveden, Esq. Caleb Whitefoord, Esq.

r.
h
«

THE BRITISH INSTITUTION 99

After resolving that the Earl of Dartmouth be desired to wait
on the Prince of Wales, to request that his royal highness will
do the Institution the honour of accepting the situation of vice-
patron, — It was ordered that a select committee be authorized
to purchase or hire a place for the exhibition. Their choice fell
on the Shakespeare Gallery, Pail-Mall, which, in the preceding
January, had become the property of Mr. Tassie, from his
possessing the fortunate ticket in Alderman Boydell's lottery ;
and from Mr. Tassie they purchased the premises, and remaining
sixty-three years of the lease, for 55OO/.

On the 1 8th of January, 1806, it was opened with an ex-
hibition of the works of British artists on sale : they sold forty-
eight pictures, which produced 28oo/. The exhibition closed
about the time that the Royal Academy opens ; and during this
summer the gallery was furnished with many fine pictures by the
old masters, from the collections of the founders of the Institu-
tion, in order to form a British School of Painting, which had
so long been a desideratum. Benjamin West, Esq. P.R.A.
wishing to give it some Mat, copied a picture by Vandyke
of Govastius, and the Cradle Scene from Rembrandt. It was
attended by many pupils of both sexes.

In the ensuing spring the exhibition again commenced ; and
before it closed, ninety-three pictures were sold for 395O/.

The following season the gallery was again opened to the
students, but upon a different plan. It had been suggested by
Sir Joshua Reynolds, in one of his lectures, that to take a fine
picture by one of the old masters, and paint a companion to
it, was a preferable mode of study to that of cold laborious
copying : under this idea, the British Institution offered three

i. — H

ioo THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

prizes of ioo/. 6o/. and 4O/. for the three best pictures painted
as companions to such of the old masters as the artists chose.

The annexed print is a representation of the gallery at the
time these students are at work.

The first premium given by the institution, anno 1807, was
gained by Mr. J. Pocock. The subject is, The insolent Visit
of Thomas a Becket to King Henry the Second, A.D. 1164;
painted as a companion to Vandyke's Theodosius, in the col-
lection of Mr. Angerstein.

The second premium was given to Mr. James Green, for his
picture of Gadshill and the Carriers ; painted as a companion to
The Candlelight, by Rubens, in the possession of Mr. Duncombe.

The third premium was given to Miss C. Reinagle — The
Interior of a Wood, with Banditti ; painted as a companion to
Mercury and Admetus, by Salvator Rosa, in the collection of
Lord Grantham.

From so fine a school of art, where British genius is counte-
nanced by so liberal an encouragement, what may we not expect ?
The present sale bids fair to exceed the two former. One of
the regulations of the British Institution may be sufficient to give
a general idea of the nature of the works admitted.

"Artists who are natives of, or resident in, the United King-
dom, may be exhibitors in the British Gallery ; and their works,
if originals, and their own property, will be received therein for
exhibition and sale ; such works being either historical subjects
or landscapes painted in oil, statues, basso-relievos, or models
in sculpture. But portraits, whether in large or in miniature,
drawings in water colours, and architectural drawings, are in-
admissible."

TUfl K IH1 All-:!, asu/ .S TA 1 M t' A S E ,

THE BRITISH MUSEUM 101

The artists pay towards the fund two and a half per cent,
on those pictures which are sold ; and they have since gratuitously
added another two and a half per cent, to Mr. V. Green, the
keeper ; a very proper compliment to his unremitting attention
and gentlemanly conduct in his office.

The annexed print gives a correct and interesting view of this
very fine suite of rooms, and the figures have great spirit and
appropriate character.

THE BEITISH MUSEUM

THE annexed print is a view of the grand staircase, taken
from the first landing-place, and has a magnificence
becoming the residence of a nobleman : it is drawn with
great taste and knowledge ; the figures are judiciously introduced,
and relieve the eye from the unvarying lines of perspective,
and the whole presents a coup d'ceil that fills and satisfies the
mind.

Montague House was rebuilt for Ralph, Duke of Montague,
at the expence of Louis XIV. King of France, in 1678,* by
Pouget.

* The Duke of Montague was at that time at the court of France, when receiving
intelligence that his house was destroyed by fire, his spirits became greatly depressed,
which induced Louis XIV. to send artists to London, to repair the losses the noble duke
had sustained.

102 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Walpole observes of it, that " what is wanted in beauty, is
compensated by the spacious and lofty magnificence of the apart-
ments." How far this observation is founded in truth, must be
in some degree determined by the taste of the reader. The
principal parts of the house are decorated by three painters,
the historical and allegorical parts by La Fosse, landscapes by
Rousseau, and flowers by Jean Baptist Monoyer. The union
of these discordant styles produces a kind of garish splendour,
which, with the heavy carved and gilt furniture of that day, must
have had a large portion of cumbrous magnificence.

The British Museum was established in the year 1753, in
consequence of Sir Hans Sloane bequeathing his valuable col-
lection and library, which cost him 5O,ooo/. to Parliament, on
condition that they paid his executors 2O,ooo/. for it. The money
was raised the same year, by a guinea lottery.

In 1756, the valuable legacy of Egyptian antiquities collected
by the late Colonel Lethulier, together with that of his nephew,
were added to it.

The Harleian MSS. collected by Lord Oxford's family, were
purchased for io,ooo/. ; a collection of books, and also 7OOO/. in
cash, left by Major Edwards : in addition to the Cottonian, is
the library of Mr. Maddox, historiographer to his majesty, given
by his widow.

In 1757, George II. gave the royal library, which consists of ,
about ten thousand books, with eighteen hundred MSS. all
collected by the different kings of England. The Cracherode
collection has also been since added.

In 1772, by a vote of the House of Commons for the purchase
of Sir William Hamilton's collection of Etruscan, Grecian, and

;

THE BRITISH MUSEUM 103

Roman antiquities, the sum of 84 io/. was granted, and 8407.
to the trustees to provide a repository for them. In 1804, a
grant of 8ooo/. was voted towards an additional building for
the reception of the Egyptian antiquities brought over by the
expedition under Sir Ralph Abercrombie ; and in 1805, a further
grant of 8ooo/. for the same purpose.

In 1805, a grant of 2O,ooo/. was voted for the purchase of
the Townleian collection of Greek and Roman antiquities.

A collection of MSS. which were in the possession of the
late Marquis of Lansdown, has been purchased for 48oo/.

It is impossible in our limits to convey an adequate idea of
the immensity of this collection ; we shall, therefore, merely give
a cursory glance at the general contents of the apartments in
the order they are shewn to visitors.

The first room contains a vast number of curiosities brought
by Captains Cook, Byron, &c. from New Zealand, Otaheite,
the Friendly and Sandwich Islands, western coast of California,
&c. ; consisting of dresses, weapons, canoes, fishing tackle, idols,
and a variety of matters, remarkable for their ingenuity and
exquisite taste.

Second room is a miscellaneous collection of the Harleian
curiosities : there are two mummies, various models of works
of art, weapons of the ancient Britons, Mexican idols, Chinese
and Indian models, &c. and the celebrated portrait of Oliver
Cromwell by Cooper.

Third room contains the Lansdown collection.

Fourth room, MSS. Sloaniana.

Fifth, Harleian library : a very curious inscription taken from
the breast of a mummy ; and portraits of Oliver Cromwell,

io4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Charles XII. the Czar Peter, Andrew Marvell, Algernon Sydney,
Sir H. Vane, Sir Anthony More, Sir P. P. Rubens, Ben Jonson,
and M. S. Merian, celebrated for the exquisite collection of
insects painted by her.

Sixth, Harleiana library ; containing portraits of Cranmer,
Usher, Burleigh, Salisbury, Spelman, Dugdale, Cosmo de Medicis,
Duke of Marlborough, Louis XIV. and a beautiful portrait of
the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth.

Seventh, The royal library ; containing the original Magna
Charta; the portraits of Edward III. Henry II. Henry V.
Henry VI. Countess of Richmond, Henry VIII. Edward VI.
Mary, Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, James I. Charles I.
Henrietta, Charles II. William III. Speed, Camden, &c.

Eighth, Banqueting-room, contains only a portrait of George
II. and a table made of various specimens of lava. In this room
the three painters have exerted all their powers of decoration :
it gives a perfect idea of the magnificence of that time, but it
is heavy and incongruous ; there are many good parts, but they
do not unite.

Ninth, Sloane and Cracherode collection — volcanic minerals,
spars, &c.

Tenth, Sloane and Cracherode — shells and petrifactions.

Eleventh, Sloane — marine productions and reptiles.

Twelfth, Sloane — birds and beasts.

Thirteenth, Fish and serpents.

Fourteenth, On the staircase is a crocodile 21 feet long.

The noble collections of Sir William Hamilton, Mr. Townley,
and the Egyptian antiquities, are arranging in the new building,
but not yet opened for public inspection.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM

105

The present establishment is as follows :

Forty-one trustees, twenty by virtue of their offices, six repre-
senting the Sloane, Cotton, and Harleian families, marked S. C. H.
and fifteen chosen by the former twenty.

TRUSTEES BY OFFICE.

Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Lord Chancellor.

Lord President of the Council.

First Lord of the Treasury.

Lord Privy Seal.

First Lord of the Admiralty.

Lord Steward.

Lord Chamberlain.

Three Secretaries of State.

Bishop of London.

Speaker of the House of Commons.

Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench.

Master of the Rolls.

Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.

Attorney General.

Solicitor General.

President of the Royal Society.

President of the College of Physicians.

FAMILY TRUSTEES.

C. Sir George Cornwall, Bart. LL.D.

C. Francis Annesley, Esq. J

H. Duke of Portland, F.R. and A.S. LL.D. K.G.

H. Marquis of Tichfield.
5. Hans Sloane, Esq. F.R.S.

TRUSTEES ELECTED.

Dean of Lincoln. Marquis Bute.

Henry Cavendish, Esq. F.R.S. Bishop of Durham.
Marquis Townshend.P.S.A. LL.D. and F.R.S. Earl of Hardwicke, K.G.

Earl Aylesford. Right Hon. Sir William Scott.

Earl Spencer, K.G. Right Hon. George Rose.

Duke of Grafton, K.G. Lord St. Helen's.
Lord Frederic Campbell.

io6 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Principal librarian, Joseph Planta, Esq.

Librarian of the MSS. department, F. Douce, Esq. and his assistant,

the Rev. T. Maurice.

Printed books, Henry Ellis, Esq. and the Rev. H. Harvey Baber.
Natural history, Dr. Shaw and Charles Konig, Esq.
Coins and medals, Taylor Combe, Esq.
Secretary, Mr. Edward Bray.

The Museum is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,
except Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun-week, on Thanksgiving
and Fast-days, and during August and September. Persons
wishing admittance are to apply at the anti-room, between the
hours of ten and two, and inscribe their names and residence in
a book kept there. Five companies of not more than fifteen
each are admitted, at ten, eleven, twelve, one, and two o'clock ;
but there is no necessity for fifteen going in one party, the first
fifteen names on the book are admitted together, if they should
happen to be all strangers to each other.

The reading-room is open, under certain regulations, from ten
till four every day, except Saturdays and Sundays.

N.B. When the new rooms are opened for the inspection of visitors, it is understood
that eight companies, instead of five, will be admitted.

©

H
J
A
•0

CAKLTON HOUSE

THE annexed print is a view of the great hall, which is
conceived with a classic elegance, that does honour to
the genius of the late Mr. Holland, who was the architect
of Carlton House. The size of the hall is forty-four feet in length
and twenty-nine in breadth. The entrance to the hall from the
vestibule is by a flight of steps, which gives it an air of un-
common grandeur ; it is supported by eight fine columns of the
Ionic order, with architrave, frieze, and cornice. The ceiling is
coved, and ornamented with plain caissons, and lighted by a
skylight of an oval form. The columns are finely executed in
scaglioni, of a yellow porphyry ; the capitals and bases are
bronzed, as are all the ornaments in the hall. In four corre-
sponding niches are casts from the antique, of two Muses, the
Antinous and the Discobulus ; on the cornice are placed busts,
urns, and griffins ; over the niches are basso-relievos, which are
also bronzed. At each end of the hall is a stove of a new and
elegant construction ; six Termini of fine workmanship support
a dome or canopy : the whole is executed in cast-iron bronzed.
Over each fire-place is an allegorical painting in imitation of
bronze basso-relievo, and compartments over the doors in the same
manner : the tout-ensemble is striking and impressive. There is
in this hall a symmetry and proportion, a happy adjustment of the
parts to produce a whole, that are rarely seen ; it is considered as

io8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the chef d'ceuvre of Mr. Holland, and would do honour to any
architect of any age or country. Of the print it may be proper
to say, that it is drawn with great accuracy and feeling, the per-
spective is easy and natural, and the general effect broad and
simple. The figures are few, but introduced with great taste : it
must be obvious, that a greater number would have impaired the
general effect of the architectural design.

The new circular dining-room, when completed, will unquestion-
ably be one of the most splendid apartments in Europe : the walls
are entirely covered with silver, on which are painted Etruscan
ornaments in relief, with vine-leaves, trellis-work, &c. There are
eight fine Ionic columns in scaglioni, of red granite ; the capitals
and bases are silver, as are also the enrichments, moulding, &c.
of the architrave, frieze, and cornice : the latter is surmounted by
an ornament that is somewhat Turkish in its character, and which,
if it does not belong to the Ionic order, nevertheless adds to the
splendour of the room. There are four immense pier glasses, and
under each of them a fine marble chimney-piece of exquisite
-workmanship. As this sumptuous apartment is not yet completed,
it would be improper to attempt a perfect description of it ; indeed,
almost the whole of Carlton House is undergoing alterations and
improvements. On the south side of this apartment a door opens
into the ball-room, a most magnificent and princely apartment :
another door opens into a new room, intended for a drawing-
room, at present in an unfinished state. The seats of several of
our nobility rival in splendour and costly magnificence this resi-
dence of the amiable heir apparent; but in the display of a
superior taste, judiciously combining the appropriate, useful, and
elegant, Carlton House is unequalled.

CARLTON HOUSE 109

Amid the curiosity and interest raised by a view of Carlton
House, nothing can exceed that which is excited by an examina-
tion of

THE ARMORY.

This valuable and unique collection is a museum, not of arms
only, but of various works of art, dresses, &c. : it is arranged
with great order, skill, and taste, under the immediate inspection
of His Royal Highness. It occupies five rooms on the attic
story ; the swords, firearms, &c. are disposed in various figures
upon scarlet cloth, and inclosed in glass cases : the whole is kept
in a state of the most perfect brightness. Here are swords of
•every country, many of which are curious and valuable, from
having belonged to eminent men : of these the most remarkable
is a sword of the famous Chevalier Boyard, the knight sans peur
et sans reproche. The noble reply of this illustrious dying soldier,
made to the Constable of Bourbon, deserves to be remembered.
In the war between the Emperor Charles V. and Francis I. of
France, the constable had gone over to the emperor, disgusted at
the persecutions he met with in France, from the rage of Louisa
•of Savoy, the queen mother, whose overtures of marriage he had
rejected. The emperor made the constable generalissimo of his
armies ; and in a battle which was fought in the duchy of Milan,
and in which the French were obliged to retreat, the Chevalier
Boyard was mortally wounded. Charles of Bourbon seeing him
in this state, told him how greatly he lamented his fate. "// is
not me" said the dying chevalier, "it is not me you should lament,
but yourself, who are fighting against your king and country." A
.sword of the great Duke of Marlborough, one of Louis XIV.
•and one of Charles II. : the two last are merely dress swords.

no THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

A curious silver-basket-hilted broad sword of the Pretender's,
embossed with figures and foliage. But the finest sword in this
collection is one of excellent workmanship, which once belonged
to the celebrated patriot Hampden ; it was executed by Benvenuto
Cellini, a celebrated Florentine, who was much employed by
Francis I. and Pope Clement VII.

Peter Torrigiano, who executed the monument of Henry VII.
in Westminster abbey, endeavoured to bring over Cellini to Eng-
land, to assist him ; but Cellini disliking the violence of his-
temper, who used to boast that he had given the divine Michael
Angelo a blow in the face with his fist, the marks of which he
would carry to the grave,* refused to come with him. Vasari, who
was contemporary with Cellini, speaks of him in the highest terms.
He was originally a goldsmith and jeweller, and executed small
figures in alto and basso-relievo with a delicacy of taste and liveli-
ness of imagination not to be excelled : various coins of high
estimation were executed by him for the Duke of Florence ; and
in the latter part of his life, he performed several large works in
bronze and in marble with equal reputation. He wrote his own
memoirs, which contain much curious and interesting information
relative to the contemporary history of the arts.

The ornaments on the hilt and ferrule of the scabbard of this
curious sword are in basso-relievo in bronze, and are intended to
illustrate the life of David : it is a most beautiful piece of work,

* This event happened in the palace of Cardinal di Medici : — Torrigiano being
jealous of the superior honours paid to Michael Angelo, brutally struck him in the face ;.
his nose was flattened by the blow : the aggressor fled, and entered into the army, but
being soon disgusted with that life, left it and came over to England.

CARLTON HOUSE in

and in the highest preservation ; it is kept with the greatest care
in a case lined with satin.

In the armory is a youthful portrait of Charles XII. of Sweden,
and beneath it is a couteau de chasse used by that monarch, of very
rude and simple workmanship. A sword of General Moreau's,
and one of Marshal Luckner's : but it would be impossible in our
limits to notice a hundredth part of what is interesting in this
collection.

In another room are various specimens of plate armour, helmets,
and weapons; some Indian armour of very curious workmanship,
composed of steel ringlets, similar to the hauberk worn by the
Knights Templars, but not so heavy, and the helmets are of a
different construction. Here are also some cuirasses, as worn at
present in Germany ; a very curious collection of firearms, of
various countries, from the match-lock to the modern improve-
ments in the firelock; air-guns, pistols, &c. In this room are
also some curious saddles, Mamaluke, Turkish, &c. ; some of the
Turkish saddles are richly ornamented with pure gold.

Another room contains some Asiatic chain armour, and an
effigy of Tippoo Sultaun on horseback, in a dress that he wore.
Here are also a model of a cannon and a mortar on new
principles ; some delicate and curious Chinese works of art in
ivory, many rich eastern dresses, and a palanquin of very costly
materials.

In another apartment are some curious old English weapons,
battle-axes, maces, daggers, arrows, &c. ; several specimens also,
from the Sandwich and other South Sea Islands, of weapons,
stone hatchets, &c.

Our young men of fashion who wish to indulge a taste for

n2 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

antiquarian researches, may project the revival of an old pattern
for that appendage of the leg called boots, from the series of them
worn in various ages, which form a singular part of this collection.

In presses are kept an immense collection of rich dresses, of
all countries ; and indeed so extensive and multifarious are the
objects of this museum, that to be justly appreciated it must be
seen. His Royal Highness bestows considerable attention upon
it, and it has in consequence, arrived in a few years to a pitch of
unrivalled perfection. Among the dresses are sets of uniforms,
from a general to a private, of all countries who have adopted
uniforms, and military dresses of those who have not. All sorts
of banners, colours, horse-tails, &c. ; Roman swords, daggers,
stilettoes, sabres, the great two-handed swords, and amongst the
rest, one with which executions are performed in Germany, on the
blade of which is rudely etched, on one side a figure of Justice,
and on the other the mode of the execution, which is thus : — the
culprit sits upon a chair, and the executioner comes behind him,
and at one blow severs the head from the body. Besides the
portraits of several Dukes of Brunswick and Count de Lippe,
there are those of Charles XII. the Emperor Joseph II. and
Frederic the Great, and various other princes and great men
renowned for their talents in the art of war.

Of the exterior of Carlton House it may be sufficient to
observe, that it is situated on the north side of St. James's Park,
and that the principal front faces Pall- Mall* The portico is a

* Pall-Mall was formerly laid out as a walk, or place for the exercise of the mall, a
game long since disused ; its northern side being bounded by a row of trees, and that to
the south by the old wall of St. James's Park.

CARLTON HOUSE n$

most splendid and magnificent work, of the Corinthian order,
enriched with every embellishment that elegant order is capable
of receiving. It has been objected, that the other parts of this
front are too plain to correspond with so rich a portico : the front
is rustic, and therefore does not admit of ornament ; but the eye
is hurt by the violence of the transition from the most luxuriant
decoration to the most rigid plainness. Carlton House, with its
court-yard, is separated from Pail-Mall by a dwarf screen, which
is surmounted by a very beautiful colonnade. A riding-house and
stables, belonging to His Royal Highness, are at the back,
immediately contiguous to St. James's Park. The garden is
laid out with the utmost taste and skill of which its limits are
capable.

On the 8th of February, 1790, His Royal Highness the Prince
of Wales had a state levee, for the first time, at his palace of
Carlton House, which was the most numerous of any thing of
the kind for many years ; and, except the want of female nobility,
was more numerous and splendid than the generality of the
drawing-rooms even at St. James's.

Carlton House was a palace belonging to the crown, and
presented by His Majesty to His Royal Highness the Prince
of Wales, on his coming of age, for his public town residence.
The old building being out of repair, it was judged proper by
Parliament to enable His Majesty to erect the present noble
edifice in its room ; and Mr. Holland had the honour of being
appointed the architect. There is only one thing wanting in this
palace, and which, from the present state of the arts, and still
more the liberal manner in which they are at present patronized,
we hope it is in His Royal Highness's contemplation to supply.

ii4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

It is a collection of pictures by living artists ; these, selected with
His Royal Highness's well known delicacy of taste and judg-
ment, would complete the decorations of this truly magnificent

and PRINCELY PALACE.

THE KOMAN CATHOLIC CHAPEL

LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS

HE annexed print is a very accurate and interesting view
of this celebrated chapel : the general effect of the archi-
tecture is simple and agreeable. There is a singularity
In the pillars ; those in the second range in the galleries do not
stand perpendicularly upon those under them, but are removed
a little more backward : this is mentioned to account for the
singular appearance they have in the view, and which might
otherwise have been supposed to have proceeded from some
error in the artist : in truth, the perspective in this, as in every
production of Mr. Pugin's, is always accurate, and conducted
with real taste and elegance. The various groups of figures
are designed with great spirit, and are highly characteristic of
the groups we usually meet with in a Catholic chapel : the
general effect of light and shade is broad and simple ; the
principal light being thrown upon the altar is highly judicious,
and is productive of the happiest effect : the picture by Rigaud

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHAPEL 115

is in his best style, and the other decorations of the altar are
extremely elegant.

The Catholic Chapel in Duke-street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, was
first opened in the reign of James II. and has continued ever
since, with very little interruption, as a place of worship for
the Catholics.

In the year 1762 it was burned down by accident, and soon
after the present structure was erected, at the expence of the
King of Sardinia, from a plan by Signor Jean Baptist Jaque,
an amateur of architecture, and secretary of Count Vizi, the
Sardinian envoy to the British court.

His Sardinian majesty was at all the expence of this chapel
till he lost Savoy and Piedmont by the French revolution : at
present it is principally supported by voluntary contributions.

The dreadful riots of June 1780, were produced by the mis-
guided zeal of Lord George Gordon, who having held out to the
populace, that the church was in danger from an act which was
passed, affording some relief to the Catholics, called a meeting
of the Protestants in St. George's Fields ; and they, to the
number of fifty thousand, signed a petition for the repeal of the
act, and went in a body, with Lord George Gordon at their head,
to present their petition to the House of Commons : they called
themselves The Protestant Association. These people, though
perhaps mistaken, were however generally respectable and
orderly; but the cry of "No POPERY" had spread -among the
lower orders of the people, who, incited by a set of abandoned
and desperate wretches, involved the metropolis in all the horrors
of anarchy and disorder.

Ignatius Sancho, in his letters, gives a very lively and animated

i. — i

ii6 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

description of that dreadful period. On the 2d of June, the day
appointed for the consideration of the wished-for repeal, Lord
North just got to the house a quarter of an hour before the
associators arrived in Palace-yard. By the evening there were
at least an hundred thousand poor, miserable, ragged rabble, from
twelve to sixty years of age, with blue cockades in their hats,
besides half as many women and children, all parading the
streets, the bridge, and the park, ready for any and every
mischief. Lord Sandwich was wounded by them, but was
rescued by the guards. A large party of them went about two
in the afternoon to visit the king and queen, and entered the park
for that purpose, but found the guard too numerous to be forced,
and after some useless attempts, gave it up. The Catholic
Chapel, the subject of this article, was attacked by the mob
and materially injured : with much other valuable property, they
destroyed a fine-toned organ, and a very fine altar-piece, painted
by Casali : the Sardinian ambassador offered five hundred guineas
to the rabble, to save the picture and the organ ; but they told
him, they would burn him if they could get at him, and instantly
destroyed them both.

These dreadful scenes continued to disgrace the metropolis till
the gth of June, when the rioters were suppressed, after having
destroyed the premises of Mr. Langdale, an eminent distiller, on
Holborn-Hill; numbers of them miserably perished in the flames,
intoxicated to stupefaction with the spirituous liquors, which were
set running down the kennels.

The mischief executed by these wicked and infatuated
wretches was enormous. The Fleet prison, the Marshalsea,
King's Bench, both compters, and Tothill Fields, with Newgate,

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHAPEL 117

were forced open ; Newgate partly burned, and three hundred
felons, from thence only, let loose upon the world. The King's
Bench also was burned. The insurgents visited the Tower, but
found it too strong for them. But so supine and feeble was the
government of the city under Brack Kennett, then lord mayor,
that the mob succeeded at the Artillery-ground, where they
found, and took to their use, five hundred stand of arms. The
Bank was threatened, but preserved by a detachment of the
guards. Lord Mansfield's house was completely destroyed ; and,
to the irreparable loss of learning and science, his valuable library
and collection of manuscripts, which had been the labour of
many years and great expence to bring together, devoted with-
out mercy to the devouring flames.

The military power at last restored the affrighted capital to
order. The obnoxious bill was repealed ; many of the rioters
were hanged, and Lord George Gordon committed to the
Tower : he was afterwards tried and acquitted, but was put in
charge of his friends as a lunatic. It is whimsical, that this hero
of the Protestant religion, when he was some years after confined
in Newgate for a libel on the Queen of France, turned Jew.

To return to the chapel : it was again restored. The picture
was replaced by one painted by John Francis Rigaud, R.A. ; it
represents Christ taken down from the cross, and is one of the
best productions of his pencil. The new organ is much esteemed
by connoisseurs ; it was built by England.

All the church service, except the sermon, is in Latin. The
masses are sung by the choir, which is under the direction of the
organist, who is generally the composer of the music performed
there. This chapel can boast of having had some of the most

n8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

eminent British musicians for the directors of the choir, among
whom the celebrated Dr. Arne was organist for several years.
Mr. Samuel Webbe now holds that situation, a gentleman who
is not only eminent for the grave and solemn style of his church
music, but has also gained high reputation for the beauty and
sprightliness of his lighter compositions.
The present clergy of this chapel are,

Dr. Thomas Rigby,

Rev. Richard Underbill,

Rev. Richard Broderick,

Rev. William Beecham.

J

«!
o

COAL EXCHANGE

THE print of the Coal Exchange is intended to represent
that busy period of the day when buyers and sellers
meet for the purpose of completing their old bargains,
and making new ones. The groups are disposed with so much
felicity, that they form a pleasing foreground, and break in the
architectural perspective without diminishing its effect. A col-
lection of individuals, meeting with a view to their separate
interests, necessarily describe the same passions, varied only by
the difference of character upon which they operate ; but the
artist has given an expression to the group on the left hand very
different from either of the groups on the right : the simplicity
which distinguishes one of the figures is highly characteristic.
The tall figure with a paper in his hands behind him, appears
intended to represent a trader of the old school, and forms
an admirable contrast to the buckish nonchalance of the more
modern merchant leaning against a pillar. The aldermanic
figure which appears to be resisting the eloquence of an inferior
tradesman, is happily contrasted with the spare and meagre
figures which compose that group. There is an arch simplicity
in the countenance of the orator with a pen in his hand, that
seems to bespeak confidence as well as attention. There is
a chaste correctness in the whole picture, highly creditable to the

120 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

taste of the artists, and it produces altogether an effect which
the subject scarcely promised.

This building was purchased, in the year 1805, by the corpora-
tion of the city of London, from the merchants and factors
whose private property it had been, for the sum of 25,4oo/. in
pursuance of an act of the 43d George III. intituled, An Act for
establishing a free Market in the City of LONDON for the Sale
of Coals, and for preventing Frauds and Impositions in the Vend
and delivery of all Coals brought into the Port of London, within
certain Places therein mentioned. The powers granted by this
act have been altered and enlarged by subsequent acts of the
44th, 46th, and 47th George III. The property of the land
and building is vested in the lord mayor, who is empowered
to receive a duty of one penny per chaldron (or ton, if sold by
weight,) on all COALS, CINDERS, or CULM, brought to the port
of London : the object of this duty is to repay the purchase
money, and to support the expences of the establishment ; when
a sufficient sum for this purpose has been raised, the duty is
to cease. The business of the Coal Exchange is conducted
by fifteen gentlemen, called the Board of Sea-Coal Meters. In
their office is taken the metage duty above-mentioned ; and also
the orphan duty, which is collected by the principal clerk (as
deputy for Mr. Alderman Newnham). There are two clerks
in this office, and about one hundred ship-meters, assisted by
labouring meters. The duty on metage is one shilling, to be
paid for every five chaldrons or one vat, which is paid into the
Chamber of London by the meters upon oath. Their business
is, to deliver all coal-ships that come into the port of London.
Every ship, within twenty-four hours after her arrival at or to

COAL EXCHANGE 121

the westward of Gravesend, is obliged to send an affidavit of the
quantity and quality of her cargo ; which, unless freighted for
government, must be sold in the open market. Any merchant
or owner may bring their own coals into this market, without the
intervention of a factor or middle man, in quantities not less
than twenty-one chaldrons. Every sale must be in the regular
appointed hours, from twelve to two ; and the price of the coals,
with the name at full length, of both buyer and seller, entered
in a book, a copy of which must be given to the clerk of the
market, who is to keep a register of each sale : the penalty for
not delivering such copy to the clerk, is not exceeding ioo/.
nor less than 2O/. : any fraudulent bargain, such as the making
an entry of one price in the market, and agreeing upon some
deduction or abatement to be allowed afterwards, subjects the
offender to a like penalty.

The Land-Coal Meters is another department : there are three
principal meters for the city of London at present, but the
establishment will be reduced to two at the death of any one
of the present holders of that office. Their business is, to
inspect by themselves, or by their deputies and labouring meters
cause to be inspected, the admeasurement of coals sold by wharf
measure. Others are appointed for Surry and for the city of
Westminster. In London, the principal meters are appointed by
the lord mayor and court of aldermen, and are liable to be fined
or discharged for neglect of duty or malversation in their office :
their jurisdiction extends over the city of London and its liberties,
and from the Tower to Limehouse-Hole. The principal meters
for Surry are elected by the churchwardens of the different
parishes, and are, for neglect or other offences, under the controul

122 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

of the quarter sessions for the county : their jurisdiction extends
over all the parishes on the southern banks of the Thames, from
Egham to Rotherhithe. The principal meter for Westminster is
appointed by the king, and under the controul of the magistrates.
There are three clerks of the market, and also a beadle, who
resides in the house.

It is impossible in our limits to enter into the minutiae, but a
general idea of the extent of this important trade may be formed
from an average estimate taken from the books, by favour of Mr.
W. Drummer, principal clerk in the Sea-Coal-Ship Meters' Office,
and deputy receiver of the orphan duty. The number of the
ships employed are from three hundred and fifty to five hundred,
which make about four thousand seven hundred voyages, and
bring to the port of London the amazing quantity of 960,000
chaldrons of coals, yearly.

A duty of one shilling per chaldron on all coals brought from
Newcastle-upon-Tyne to the port of London, was granted by
King Charles II. to Charles Lenox, Duke of Richmond, his
natural son by Lady Louisa Renne de Pennecourt, a lady who
was brought over by his sister, the Duchess of Orleans, in the
year 1660, for the express purpose of making a conquest of that
amorous monarch, with a view to confirm him in the French
interest : in this project she completely succeeded, and retained
her ascendency over him till she died. Charles created her
Duchess of Portsmouth, Countess of Farnham, and Baroness
Petersfield : Louis XIV. also, at his request, conferred on her
the title of Duchess of Aubigny.

In the year 1799, government thought proper to purchase of
the late duke his right to the duty on coals above-mentioned. It

THE ROYAL COCKPIT 123

appears, from the books in the Sea-Coal-Meters' Office, that it
brought in to the duke from 22,ooo/. to 24,ooo/. per annum : he,
however, agreed to accept from government an annuity of 20,000!.
for his own life and that of the present duke.

St. Paul's Cathedral was principally built by several duties on

-coals. By the 22d Charles II. from 1670 to 1677, two shillings

per chaldron was laid on coals, from thence to 1680, three shillings

per chaldron, one fourth to be applied to the building St. Paul's ;

ist James II. from 1687 to 1700, one shilling and sixpence per

chaldron, two thirds towards the building; 8th William III. from

1700 to 1708, twelve shillings per chaldron, two thirds for the use

-of St. Paul's; ist Anne, for eight years from 1708, two shillings

per chaldron, the whole for this great purpose.

THE KOYAL COCKPIT

BIRD-CAGE WALK, ST. JAMES'S PARK

IT is impossible to examine this picture with any degree of
attention, and not experience the highest satisfaction at this
successful exertion of the artists' abilities. Whether we
-consider it altogether as a whole, or separately examine its parts,
we shall derive equal pleasure from the employment. The regular
confusion which the picture exhibits, tells a tale that no combina-
tion of words could possibly have done so well. A pedantic dis-
ciple of Bossu would say, the plot was admirably contrived, the

i24 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

characters well supported, the various episodes growing fairly
out of the subject, and leading naturally to such a denouement
as might be expected. This print may, without undue partiality,
be acknowledged to excel that of Hogarth upon the same subject.
It is different in one particular : here the satire is general, not
personal ; a collection of peers and pickpockets, grooms and
gentlemen, bons-vivants and bullies ; in short, a scene which,
produces a medley of characters, from the highest to the lowest,
has seldom been painted with an adherence to nature so strict and
so interesting. The principal figure in the front row seems to-
anticipate the loss of the battle ; his neighbour to the right
appears to have some eggs in the same basket ; whilst a stupid sort,
of despair in the countenance of the next figure, proclaims that
all hope is lost : the smiling gentleman on his left seems to be the
winner. The clenched fists and earnest features of the personage
in the same row, between two sedate contemplators of the fight,
make one feel that sort of interest which arises from a belief, that
the victory depends upon only a little assistance being given at
that particular moment to the bird upon whose side he has betted.
In the center, and on the highest row behind, are two figures
apparently intended as hurling defiance to the whole company ;.
they are certainly offering odds, which no one is disposed to take.
A little to the left, and just above the smart officer with a cocked
hat, is a group inimitably portrayed. A parcel of knowing ones,
who have betted pretty high, finding themselves in the wrong box,,
appear very desirous of edging off, and are attacking all together
a personage who has been too much for them ; his attitude is.
expressive, and, with his fingers thrust in his ears, seems to-
indicate that he will take no more bets ; whilst the two figures.

THE ROYAL COCKPIT

125

(one in a cocked hat) to the left, appear to enjoy the humorous,
expedient. If it were not for the knowledge we have, that
personal representations are entirely out of the question, we
should be inclined to suspect, the artist had in view the late
Right Honourable C. F— and Lord — , when he drew
these personages.

The two feeders appear to take a very natural interest in their
respective situations. On the right we discover a pugilistic
exhibition, and at a little distance, horsewhips and sticks
brandished in the air : all these are the natural accompaniments
of this scene. Upon the whole this picture has great merit, and
conveys a more perfect idea of the confusion and bustle of a
cockpit, than any description. Horace tells us, that a poem and
a picture have the same object ; but we fancy that Horace could
scarcely have anticipated, that Music, in the present day, should
be brought to dispute the palm of representing actions with her
two sisters, and even to assume the dignity of the epopcea. The
account is worth preserving.

In the year 1777, Raimondi gave a concert at Amsterdam,
which was to represent to the ear the adventures of Telemachus :
it lasted an hour. The parts were distributed in the following
manner: — Telemachus, first violin; Mentor, violoncello; Calypso,
flute ; Eucharis, a nymph of Calypso, the hautboy ; the rest of
the nymphs were other wind-instruments. The piece began with
a symphony, which, in the usual way, expressed a storm ; upon
which followed a duet, with accompaniments, between the violin
and violoncello, viz. Telemachus and Mentor rejoicing at their
preservation. Calypso appears (the flute), and lisping, conducts
the youth into her grotto. The remaining nymphs made tutti,

126 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

which was sometimes interrupted by a solo on the hautboy ; for
be it known, that Eucharis was likewise enamoured of Tele-
machus : thus it went on till the whole orchestra expressed the
burning of a ship. The wind-instruments play alternate solos, to
accord with the complaints and tears of Calypso.

This attempt of Raimondi certainly admits of many improve-
ments : the connection of music and poetry is acknowledged, —
that of music and painting is not perhaps so obvious ; but, in this
age of improvement, we should not be surprised to hear of a
proposal for publishing Handel, illustrated with paintings : we
hope our contemporaries will not be so uncandid as to pirate the
hint, and get the start of us.

COLD-BATH FIELDS PKISON

THIS print represents an interior view of the prison, with
two of the culprits at hard labour, in which they are
employed for an hour at a time. The view is taken
from the Water-Engine Court, where they are at work ; through
the opening of the arch appears part of the chapel. The instant
exhibits the turn-key bringing two fresh men to relieve those who
have completed their task : the alacrity in the looks of the men
who are working, at the appearance of the other delinquents, is
aptly contrasted with the surly brutality of the one, and almost
stupid insensibility of the other ; they neither of them appear to
be thoroughly broke in to the discipline of the house. There is

WATK & Ers

COI.I> H.1 TH t-' IK I. Its PHI \ f>\-

COU>BATH FIELDS PRISON 127

something magisterially characteristic in the tout-ensemble of the
gaoler. The general effect is broad and interesting, and the per-
spective unexceptionable.

It has been a maxim of ethic writers in every age, that idleness
is the root of all evil. To check the progress of vice by inducing
habits of industry, to restore health by temperance and cleanliness,
and to mend the morals of the profligate by restraining vicious
intercourse, were among the objects which the projectors of this
institution had in view. This prison is said to have been planned
and conducted on the principles of the late benevolent Mr.
Howard. As it is not the object of this work at all to enter
into political disputes, we shall confine ourselves to a short state-
ment of the nature of the establishment; merely observing, in
the year 1800, Sir Francis Burdett moved in Parliament, that
the management and conduct of this prison be enquired into.
A committee of the House of Commons was appointed, by a
special commission under the privy seal, to investigate it ; who
made a fair and candid report, in which they declared, that some
abuses did exist. In February 1808, Mr. Sheridan presented a
petition, signed by the foreman of the grand jury, who had
visited the prison in November 1807, stating, that the loaves
with which the prisoners were served, were deficient in weight
from one and a half to two ounces, and that the prison weight
was light. A special commission was also appointed to examine
into this charge.

The following is an extract from the certified copy of the report
of the visiting magistrates of the county, to whom it was referred
to examine the allegations contained in the letter from Mr. Sheriff
Phillips to W. Mainwaring, Esq. dated i3th November, 1807.

iz8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

" Upon the whole, therefore, of this investigation, it appears to
your committee, that the sheriff has been imposed upon, and that
the statement made to him originated in misapprehension, and
was altogether frivolous and unfounded. And your said committee
lastly report, that they have frequently examined into the state
and condition of the house of correction, and of the several
prisoners there confined ; they have found the prison perfectly
clean, and the prisoners healthy and without complaint : and your
committee have great satisfaction in representing to the House,
that it appears to them, by the information of the Rev. Mr.
Evans, the chaplain to the prison, and Mr. Aris, the governor,
that the prisoners behave orderly, with decency and due decorum
in the chapel during divine service ; and that the children, who
are kept separate and apart from their parents, make great
progress in their learning : all which the committee submit.

" DANIEL WILLIAMS, Chairman."

Report of the TRAVERSE JURY of the February Session, 1808.

" We, the Traverse Jury, have visited the prison, and have
inspected the whole, and have conversed with many of the
prisoners, and found no cause of complaint, either in the internal
regulations, or the quantity or quality of the provisions, but highly
approve of them."

Without pretending to comment on these reports, we shall
merely state, that it appears, from the prison bread-book, that the
loaves, taken in the aggregate, are almost always above weight ;
as it is a standing order of the magistrates, that the baker shall
be paid for such over-weight, and consequently he has no motive
•for making his bread light. On the day the grand jury visited
the prison, it appears by the book, that the bread was two pounds

COLD-BATH FIELDS PRISON 129

over weight in the aggregate, though it is very possible that some
of the loaves separately may have been light.

It is a strong proof of the healthiness of the prison, that from
November 1793 to November 1807, out of 19,862 male and
female prisoners, only ninety-one have died : there have been
twenty-four born in the prison in the same period. There are
three hundred and thirty-three cells in the prison, in which the
convicts are locked up separately at night ; there are also more
commodious apartments for those who can afford to pay half-a-
guinea per week for them.

The prison is divided into two sides, the male and female. On
the male side are five day-rooms for the convicts, two rooms for
the vagrants, who are sent there for seven days previous to their
being passed to their respective parishes ; one separate apartment
for the debtors, one infirmary, one foul ward, and an apartment
for the clerks. On the female side are six day-rooms, a wash-
house, two store-rooms, one infirmary, one foul ward, and an
apartment for the children of the convicts, who are kept sepa-
rate from their parents, and are taught to read, say their
catechism, &c. ; they have three meals a day, and are comfort-
ably clothed.

The COUNTY allowance to the convicts is, for the day, one pint
of water-gruel, one pound of bread, half a pound of meat, or six
ounces when dressed, three times one week, and four times the
next; on the intermediate days they have the broth in which
their meat was boiled. All sick persons have wine, or whatever
indulgence is ordered by the doctor.

The following are the regulations of the prison :

i. That the walls and ceiling shall be scraped once in the
year at least.

1 3o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

2. That the cells shall be kept clean.

3. That they shall be supplied with fresh air by ventilators

or otherwise.

4. That there shall be two rooms for the sick.

5. That a warm and cold bath, or bathing-tubs, shall be

provided.

6. That this act shall be hung up in the gaol.

7. That a surgeon or apothecary shall be appointed, with a

salary.

Once every year the governor is interrogated, whether the
above seven regulations have been complied with.

In the first court of the prison are fixed against the wall three
large boards, containing an abstract of the various acts relative
to the duties of the governor and conduct of the prisoners ; they
are placed at a convenient height for reading.

The prisoners are severally employed in useful labour. Males,
in picking oakum, knotting of yarn, making of spun yarn, making
rope, making and repairing the prisoners' clothing, whitewashing
and painting the prison, attending the -county carpenter, brick-
layer, mason, or plumber, as labourers ; and others as gardeners,
carpenters, making wheelbarrows and other utensils for the
garden.

Females, in spinning thread for the use of the prison, making
and repairing the bedding and clothing for the prisoners, washing,
picking oakum, &c.

Sir Robert Taylor was the architect who began the building ;
after his death Sir William Chambers was appointed to that
office ; at his decease it was completed by Mr. Rogers, county
surveyor.

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS

IT is an observation often made, and the truth of it is
obvious to the most careless observer, that the beauty of
our principal buildings in the metropolis is in a great
measure obscured, or the effect, as architectural ornaments, en-
tirely destroyed, by their situation or neighbourhood. There are
few public buildings to which this observation applies more
pointedly than the College of Physicians. It is situated in
Warwick-lane,* and its appearance is thus wittily described by

Garth :

" Where stands a dome, majestic to the sight,
" And sumptuous arches bear its oval height,
" A golden globe, placed high with artful skill,
"Seems to the distant sight a gilded pill."

The society, according to Pennant, was originally founded by
Dr. Linacre, whom he describes as being the first who rescued

* Warwick-lane took its name from being the town residence of the Earls of
Warwick. We have a curious mention in Stow, of Richard Neville, the famous king-
making earl, who is described as "coming to London, in the memorable convention
of 1458, with 600 men, all in red jackets imbrodered, with ragged staves before and
behind, and was lodged in Warwicke-lane : in whose house there was often six oxen
eaten at a breakfast, and every taverne was full of his meate ; for he that had any
acquaintance in that house, might have there so much of sodden and rost meate as
he could pricke and carry upon a long dagger."— STOW'S Survaie, p. 130.
I. — K

1 32 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the medical art from the hands of illiterate monks and empirics.
He studied in Italy, was physician to Henry VII. and VIII. and
died in 1524.

The college was first in Knight- Rider-street, afterwards it was
removed to Amen-corner, and finally fixed where it is. As a
work of much delicacy, it has been admitted, by very competent
judges, to be highly honourable to its great architect, Sir
Christopher Wren. The portico leads into a square, surrounded
with brick buildings, ornamented with stone. On one side is a
statue of Charles II. ; opposite to which is another of Sir John
Cutler, a man whom Pope has immortalized in a dozen verses,
that do as little credit to the writer as to the memory of the un-
fortunate miser. Pennant observes, " I was greatly at a loss to
learn, how so much respect was shewn to a character so stigma-
tized for avarice ; I think myself much indebted to Dr. Warren
for the extraordinary history.

"It appears by the annals of the college, that, in the year
1674, a considerable sum of money had been subscribed by the
fellows, for the erection of a new college, the old one having
been consumed in the great fire eight years before. It also
appears, that Sir John Cutler, a near relation of Dr. Whistler,
the president, was desirous of becoming a benefactor. A com-
mittee was appointed to wait upon Sir John, to thank him for
his kind intentions. He accepted their thanks, renewed his
promise, and specified the part of the building of which he in-
tended to bear the expence. In the year 1680, statues in honour
of the king and Sir John were voted by the members ; and nine
years afterwards, the college being then completed, it was resolved
to borrow money of Sir John Cutler, to discharge the college

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debt, but the sum is not specified. It appears, however, that,
in 1699, Sir John's executors made a demand on the college of
7Ooo/. which sum was supposed to include the money actually
lent, the money pretended to be given (but set down as a debt
in Sir John's books), and the interest on both : Lord Radnor,
however, and Mr. Edmund Boulter, Sir John Cutler's executors,
were prevailed on to accept 2OOO/. from the college, and actually
remitted the other five : so that Sir John's promise, which he
never performed, obtained him the statue, and the liberality of
his executors has kept it in its place ever since ; but the college
has wisely obliterated the inscription, which, in the warmth of its
gratitude, it had placed beneath the figure :

"Omnis Cutleri cedat labor amphitheatre."

It is impossible to peruse this anecdote, however partially
related, not to be struck with the insufficiency of the evidence it
affords, to fix, with any degree of certainty, a charge of avarice
or duplicity on the memory of Sir John Cutler ; and we are as
little inclined to consider the materials of which it is composed,
as conclusive testimony of the liberality of his executors : we are
indeed the less disposed to do so from the evidence of Mr.
Pennant himself, who says, page 441, speaking of Grocers'
Hall,

" Here, to my great surprise, I met again with Sir John Cutler,
grocer, in marble and on canvass. In the first he is represented
standing, in a flowing wig, rather waved than curled, a laced
cravat, and a furred gown, with the folds not ungraceful ; in all
except where the dress is inimical to the sculptor's art, it may

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be called a good performance. By his portrait we may learn,
that this worthy wore a black wig, and was a good-looking man.
He was created a baronet November 12, 1660; so that he
certainly had some claim of gratitude with the restored monarch.
He died in 1693. His kinsman and executor, Edmund Boulter,
Esq. expended 7,666/. on his funeral expences. In STYRPE'S
Stow, vol. I. book i. p. 289, he is spoken of as a benefactor, and
that he rebuilt the great parlour, and over it the court-room, which
were consumed in the year 1666. He served as a master of the
company in 1652 and 1653, and in 1688, and again a fourth time.
The anecdote of his bounty to the College of Physicians might
have led one to suppose, that the grocers had not met with more
liberal treatment ; but by the honours of the statue and the
portrait, he seems to have gained here a degree of popularity."

There is nothing remarkable in the interior of the building,
except the library and the great hall. The former was founded
by Sir Theodore Mayerne, and considerably augmented by the
Earl of Dorchester ; it is handsomely fitted up, and contains a
respectable collection of medical and other books. Among the
MSS. of the college, are the lives of many of its most dis-
tinguished members.

The large hall, which is finely represented in the print, is a
handsome, well-proportioned room ; if any fault may be found, it
is rather too low. The physicians are sitting at a long table, and
appear to be employed in the examination of a candidate. The
eager disputatious attitude of the figure which is represented as
leaning forward, in the act of interrogating the candidate, is finely
contrasted with the two figures on his right hand, one of which
seems to have gathered up his features into a supercilious in-

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS 135

difference as to what is passing before him, and indicates at the
same time a self-acknowledged superiority of intellect. The
irritable, anxious figure of the candidate is well imagined ; and
one of the learned physicians, on his left, who appears to be
calling for an answer to the question he has put, seems, by
multiplying the attack, to increase the no small embarrassment
of the poor examinant.* The small group of figures who appear
to be employed in discussing some important case, are too deeply
interested in its merits to take any part in what is going forward ;
they are drawn with great force of character, and very delicately
hit off.

This apartment is enriched with some good portraits and busts
of several eminent men who have belonged to the society.
Among other portraits are, a fine painting of Hervey, by
Cornelius Janson ; a capital portrait of Sir Theodore Mayerne ;
Sir Thomas Brown, author of Religio Medici, and Vulgar
Errors ; the great Sydenham, and his cotemporary, Sir
Edward King, the favourite physician to Charles II. ; Dr.
Friend, the medical historian ; Dr. Goodall, the Stentor of
Garth's Dispensary; and Dr. Mellington, who is so elegantly
complimented by that poet, under the name of Machaon. There

* A whimsical anecdote is related of a candidate under his examination. After
a variety of other questions, he was thus interrogated : " Now, sir, in a case of
desperate fever, the patient wanting relief by perspiration, how would you act ? "
"Why, sir," answered the student, "I should give," &c. &c.— "Well, sir, if that did not
operate, what would you do then?" "Why, sir, I should have recourse to," &c. &c.—
" But if that did not produce the desired effect, what remedy have you left ? " " Gentle-
men," said the worried student, with a profound bow, " if all these should fail, I would
direct the patient to be brought here for examination, and I should despair of success
by any other means, if this failed to produce 'relief by perspiration!"

1 36 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

is likewise a very good head of the anatomist Vesalius, painted
on board, said to be done by John Calcar, or Kelkar, a painter
from the duchy of Cleves, who died in 1546. This painter is
said to have excelled so much as a disciple of Titian, that several
of his designs and paintings have been ascribed, even by Goltzius,
to that master. His Nativity, which exhibited the light proceed-
ing from the infant, was a much admired composition. Calcar
designed all the heads for the works of Vasari, and the ana-
tomical figures in those of Vesalius. There are several other
portraits by masters of inferior note, but which merit the atten-
tion of a stranger.

The College of Physicians was first incorporated in the tenth
of Henry III. The letters patent thus express the reason for
so doing :

" Cum regii officiis nostri munus arbitremur, ditionis nostrce
hominum felicitati omni ratione consulere, id autem vel imprimis
fore, si improborum conatibus tempestive occurramus" &c. &c.

Dr. Linacre is usually complimented with the whole merit of
procuring this establishment, from his having bestowed upon the
society the house in Knight- Rider-street, where they originally
met ; but Dr. Chambre and Fernandez de Victoria, as well as
Nicholas Halliwell, John Francis, and Robert Yarley, appear to
be equally entitled to a share of that honour which attaches to
the founders of this society. Cardinal Wolsey, at that time lord-
chancellor, appears to have been the means through which the
charter was obtained.

It does not seem to admit of any doubt, that at this period
the state of medicine required such an institution. The pre-

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amble to the statute made in the $d Henry VIII. may afford
us a tolerable idea of what that was.

"The science and cunning of physic and surgerie, to the
perfect knowledge whereof are requisite both great learning and
ripe experience, is daily within this realm exercised by a great
multitude of ignorant persons, of whom the greater number have
no manner of insight in the same, nor in any other kind of
learning. Some also can read no letters on the book, so far
forth, that common artificers, as smiths, weavers, and women,
boldly and accustomably take upon them great cures and things
of great difficulty, in the which they partly used sorceries and
witchcraft, and partly apply such medicines unto the diseased
as are very noisome and nothing meet there for, to the high
displeasure of God, &c. &c. and destruction of the king's liege
people."

Surgery at this period seems to have been very much upon
the same footing.

By the i4th Henry VIII. besides confirming their privileges,
it was further provided,

" That for the making of the said corporation meritorious, and
very good for the commonwealth of this realm, no person of the
said politic body and commonalty be suffered to exercise physic,
but only those persons that be profound, sad, and discreet,
groundly learned, and deeply studied in physic."

By the 32d Henry VIII. they were exempted from certain
personal services.

Queen Mary confirmed the charters granted by her father.

Elizabeth, by another charter, authorized the society "to take

138 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

yearly for ever one, two, three, or four human bodies to dissect
or anatomize, having been condemned and dead."

In the year 1596, they prayed relief from the queen's council
against the city of London, for an infringement of their privi-
leges ; and obtained a precept, directed to the mayor and
aldermen, "That as even heretofore they (the College of
Physicians) had been discharged from all burdens and imposi-
tions to which other citizens were liable, so now at that present
likewise they should be forborne."

About the same period, a complaint being preferred against
the college by two persons whom they had fined for irregular
practice, their privileges were further confirmed by the solemn
award of the Lord Chief Justice Popham ; the most important
part of which appears to be, "that no man, though ever so
learned a physician or doctor, might practice in London, or
within seven miles, without the college licence."

James I. granted this society a charter, dated 8th October,
anno regni 15, which was renewed by Charles II. and James II.
By this latter the number of fellows was increased from fifty to
eighty, and candidates who had taken their degrees in foreign
universities, were qualified to become fellows.

The object of this institution, and of the several charters
which have been granted to it, was certainly to enable the
society to prevent the practice of physic by ignorant pretenders,
or persons unqualified for the profession. That such an object
was extremely desirable, and most devoutly to be wished, can
admit of no reasonable doubt : but either the authority has
proved insufficient, or the means which have been employed to
obtain the object have been improper ; for surely there is no

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS 139

metropolis in the world so pregnant with empirical impostors,
or so afflicted with medicine, as London. The attempts at
reform which have for some time occupied a considerable por-
tion of the public mind, deserve the most serious attention. If
they are pursued with temper and moderation, if the enquiries
which are set on foot be conducted with so much candour as
to preclude all suspicion of being intended to support precon-
ceived opinions, and if the result of this investigation be not
made to dovetail with certain speculative propositions already
promulgated, the cause of science and humanity will be under
great obligations to the learned and respectable Dr. Harrison,
of Horncastle, and his fellow labourers in the same cause ; but,
on the other hand, if the original promoters should suffer their
schemes of reform to degenerate into a pitiful plan for the good
of the profession, or operate only to convert a science into a
trade, we shall hesitate to bestow the meed of praise upon their
labours, or to hail them as the benefactors of mankind.

The art of medicine, like the other arts which are necessary
either to the existence or comfort of mankind, must have had
a very early origin ; but, owing to the scanty records which we
have of the ruder ages, we are unable to trace its rise or progress
in very remote periods, nor would the enquiry perhaps lead to
any very important information. It is obvious that it must have
existed in a greater or less degree of cultivation even among
the most unenlightened nations, and modern discoveries lead us
to conclude, that the most savage and illiterate tribes are not
without some portion of knowledge in that art, which lessens
the miseries and prolongs the period of human existence. So
long as the art of physic was supported, not upon the foundation

i4o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

of actual experiment, but upon occult properties, assumed as data,
it continually appeared under some new form, and the dogmas of
the preceding age were supplanted by the more fashionable, but
not less fanciful theories of that which succeeded.

Hippocrates was the first we are acquainted with who
separated the professions of philosophy and medicine, and
applied himself exclusively to the study of physic. After the
revival of Grecian literature in the fifteenth century, his works
were held in too high a degree of estimation, particularly as
they are deficient in anatomy, which is the great foundation of
physical knowledge. The liberality of Alexander the Great
enabled Aristotle to project his noble work, comprehending a
general and detailed history of all nature ; and what remain of
his writings upon natural history and comparative anatomy, will
render his name dear to every student in the science of medicine,
when his philosophy shall be forgotten. After the establishment
of Alexandria, Herophilus and Erasistratus contributed their
labours to the improvement of this science, and were among
the first who dissected the human body. This practice (not-
withstanding the obstacles opposed to it by religious prejudices)
obtained considerably under the Ptolemies ; but its progress
must necessarily have been slow, when we consider, that even
by the touching of a corpse pollution was contracted, and the
awful penalty of being interdicted the altars of the gods attached
upon the offender. This may account for the horrible expedient
which history insinuates was practised at this period, by dis-
secting the unfortunate criminals alive. But the little we know
of the Grecian professors, is from the few extracts which are to
be found in the works of Galen. It is singular, that in so long

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS 141

a period as near six hundred years, which intervened from the
days of Hippocrates, Herophilus, and Erasistratus, to the time
of Galen, we have scarcely any author upon medicine whose
works have been worth preserving. The Romans have not
furnished one in this, or indeed in any other branch of natural
philosophy ; for certainly we should hesitate to admit the claims
of Pliny or Celsus, who may be considered as mere compilers
from their Greek precursors.

Galen was born at Pergamos, in Asia Minor, about the year
130 of the Christian cera. He was educated at a considerable
expence ; after being initiated into all the learning of the Greeks,
and the schools of philosophy which then existed, he went into
the service of the emperors, and resided principally at Rome.
Among the remains of antiquity, there are few more valuable
than his Commentaries, written upon the uses of the several
parts of the body, as hymns of praise to the great Creator.
The beautiful story of his conversion every well informed reader
is acquainted with.

From the time of Galen, medical and anatomical science seems
to have remained with little alteration and without improvement,
till the decline and final overthrow of the Roman power by
the irruptions of the Goths during the fifth century. The ten
succeeding centuries have been properly characterized as the
dark ages, when science retired to the cloister for safety and
protection, and Europe was plunged into darkness so deplorable,
that not a single ray of intellectual light shot across the gloom
to make even that darkness more visible. Upon the restoration
of learning, Hippocrates and Galen were received as oracles ;
and the doctrines of the latter had obtained so firm a root in

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the minds of men, that, about the beginning of the sixteenth
century, they appeared to defy all opposition ; and the remedies
which were supplied by the imperfect chemistry of that period,
were only administered by the lower, the more ignorant, or more
adventurous professors of medicine.

At length Paracelsus appeared, who does not seem to have
studied physic in any of the established schools, but to have
picked up remedies from all sorts of people, particularly from
the chemists. From them he learned the use of mercury, opium,
and antimony ; by these he was enabled to cure many disorders
that had baffled the inert remedies of the followers of Galen.
Novelty and accident contributed to raise his fame, and he
obtained the professor's chair at Basil. Whether his success
be attributed to his merit or his impudence, he was the father
of a set of practitioners who opposed the established schools,
and ultimately triumphed over the Galenists, notwithstanding
the support they received from the secular power, which they
called in to crush their adversaries.

In the beginning of the seventeenth century, Sir Theodore
Mayerne, who had been much opposed in France as a favourer
of chemical remedies, came over to this country, and was
appointed physician to the king. He is said to have counte-
nanced the use of antimony, and contributed, by the weight of
his great name and authority, to eradicate the distinction which
existed between the Galenic and chemical practitioners. But
medicine soon after received still greater improvements from
another disciple of Paracelsus, Van Helmont. He was the first
who gave the name of gas to the aeriform vapours, and applied
its theory to the elucidation of some phenomena of the animal

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS 143

economy. "We are surprised," says Lavoisier, "to find in Van
Helmont an infinite number of facts which we are accustomed
to consider as more modern." And it certainly is impossible to
deny, that his treatise de Flatibus contains most of those splendid
facts which we look at with admiration in the works of Priestley,
Cavendish, and even Lavoisier himself. The phenomena his
chemistry presented were so marvellous, that he was accused
of magic, and thrown into the Inquisition, from whence he was
ultimately released, and having retired to Holland, he there died
in the year 1544.

Soon after, the illustrious Bacon formed plans for promoting
the sciences in general, and that of natural philosophy in par-
ticular. His comprehensive mind formed a just estimate of the
value of chemistry, and he pointed out the only mode by which
this, as well as the other branches of philosophy, can ever be
attained as a science : — " Non fingendum, aut excogitandum, quid
natura feret et facial, sed inveniendum est." He advised the
collecting of facts, and to compare these maturely and cautiously,
as the only basis upon which the pillar of science could be reared ;
he rejected theory and conjecture unsupported by experiment.
The principles of philosophising being altered agreeable to the
directions of this illustrious man, more light has been thrown
upon the science of medicine in one century, than it had received
for two thousand years before. He died 25th February, 1626.

In the year Bacon was lost to the world, Robert Boyle was
born; of whom it has been said, "that he was the person
designed by nature to succeed to the labours and enquiries of
that extraordinary genius." — "Of the writers," says Boerhaave,
"who have treated of chemistry with a view to natural philo-

144 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

sophy and medicine, we may reckon among the chief Mr. R.
Boyle." What Van Helmont called gas, Boyle denominated
artificial air. He has examined the philosophy of the chemists
with the greatest temper, candour, and modesty, and has admir-
ably explained its weaker points. In addition to the facts which
had been already ascertained, he appears to have discovered, that
some bodies, such as camphor, sulphur, &c. diminish the vohime
of air in which they burn. He died 3Oth December, 1691.

To Boyle succeeded Mayow, a name of little note in the
philosophical world for many years after he had paid the debt
of nature ; but, according to the analysis of his works by
Dr. Beddoes, "he was acquainted with the composition of the
"atmosphere, and perceived the action of oxygen or vital air
"in almost all the whole extent of its influence. He was well
" aware of the cause of the increase of weight in metallic calces,
"and distinctly pointed out, that certain bases are rendered acid
"by the accession of vital air. The doctrine of respiration is
"all his own. — The office of the lungs (says he) is to separate
"from the air, and convey to the blood, one of its constituent
"parts. He investigates the change which the air produces in
"the blood during its passage through the lungs; — and adds,
"that on respiration something noxious is thrown out." But his
philosophy, according to his Dutch translator, does not appear
to have found much approbation in his own age.

The experiments made by these three philosophers established
the fact, that some elastic vapour, analagous to air, escaped from
bodies in many operations ; but Dr. Hales seems to have been
the first who formed any idea of the exact quantity, which, in
many instances, he ascertained by experiments. To the im-

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS 145

mortal Boerhaave we are indebted for the doctrine of Resolution
and Composition. It was reserved for the unfortunate, but illus-
trious Becher to arrange the desultory experiments of those who
had preceded him, and from the immense stores of chemical facts,
to form the theory of phlogiston, which soon obtained credit
throughout Europe. This theory was adopted and commented
upon by Stahl, principal physician to the King of Prussia. The
doctrine of phlogiston has been succeeded by the new, or anti-
phlogistic theory, which has since sprang up in France: it derived
its chief origin from Lavoisier, who was joined by other eminent
chemists and philosophers of considerable talents, who have
united their labours to establish the new system. Never was the
passion for novelty more happily exerted among the philosophers
of France, than in the cultivation of this ample field of knowledge ;
which, however, had been first explored, and the richness of the
soil demonstrated, principally by our illustrious countrymen,
Mayow, Boyle, Hales, Black, Cavendish, and Priestley.

We are now arrived at a new aera of physic, which commenced
under the most brilliant auspices. Out of the pneumatic theory
arose the employment of factitious airs in medicine ; and in
many cases where these remedies were tried at the Hotel Dieu,
in Paris, they proved eminently successful ; but having un-
fortunately been applied in a case of consumption, in which they
did not succeed, and the revolution in France beginning about
the same period, together with the tyranny of Robespierre, who
put to death Lavoisier,* and many other literary characters, a

* Lavoisier was supposed to be rich, and therefore was guillotined. He requested
but three days to finish an important experiment he had begun, when the wretch who
governed that unhappy country, replied, " France has no need of philosophers, but of
patriots," and ordered him to execution immediately.

146 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

veil was drawn over this branch of science for a time ; but, as
Fourcroy justly observes, it has begun to establish on new views,
more solid than were heretofore possessed, a system of animal
physics, which promises an abundant harvest of discoveries.

We have pursued this subject up to the introduction of vital
air in the practice of medicine, without stopping by the way to
notice other improvements of equal, if not more important
consideration. About the year 1628, the discovery of the
circulation of the blood immortalized our countryman, Harvey.
It is by far the most important step towards a knowledge of the
animal economy that has been made in any age or in any country;
and yet it appears to be so obvious, as to leave us in astonishment
how we could possibly have continued so long ignorant* of a
motion in our frame, which is the basis of life, and which chance
or accident must have made us sensible of a thousand times.
Indeed many of the facts which led to this great discovery were
known even to the ancients, but their theories were incomplete or
inconsistent ; each in turn had its revolution, and one error
succeeded to another. Hippocrates believed that all the vessels
communicated with each other, and that the blood had a regular
flux and reflux to and from the heart, like the ebbing and flowing
of the sea. The anatomists of Alexandria, finding in their
dissections that the arteries were empty, supposed them to be
merely tubes for the conveyance of air, and gave them a name
accordingly, by which they have ever since been distinguished ;
and they supposed the veins to be the only channels for the blood.

* Every thing appears easy when it is known. Columbus challenged his opposers to
make an egg stand upright on one end ; they attempted it in vain : he took one, and
flattening it with a gentle blow or two on the table, it stood without difficulty.

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS 147

Galen discovered that the blood flowed both by the arteries and
veins, but he was ignorant of its natural course. The pulmonary
circulation was known to Severus and several other eminent men.
Fabricius ab Aquapendente (who was the preceptor of Harvey)
has particularly described the valves of the veins, by which the
blood is prevented flowing at their extremities. But even Harvey
was unacquainted with the direct communication which subsists
between the arteries and the veins : he thought the blood
transuded through a spongy substance into the latter. This
great discovery of Harvey's paved the way to almost all the
important improvements which have since been made in the
science of medicine. Aselli, an Italian physician, discovered
the lacteals, by which the chyle is carried through millions of
tubes (whose perforation is too fine even for the microscope to
discover), and deposited in the glands of the mesentery, where
being attenuated by a thin diluting lymph, it is conveyed to the
common receptacle, and mounts by a perpendicular tube called
the thoracic duct (which was discovered by Pecquet in France),

I to be poured into the left subclavian vein, where mixing with the
blood, it loses the name of chyle. From this vein it passes into
the vena cava superior, and through the right auricle of the heart
is forced into the right ventricle ; from thence, by the astonishing
mechanism of these parts, it is compelled into the great or
pulmonary artery, which carries it to the lungs, and by its
contracting power drives the blood into every part of that organ.
It is in this amazing laboratory it imbibes oxygen from the air we
breathe, and in consequence of which it assumes a more brilliant
colour. It then enters the left auricle by the four pulmonary
veins, and is thence protruded into the left ventricle, which by

i. — L

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contracting itself pushes the blood into the aorta ; hence, as from
a great reservoir, it is impelled by the powerful energy of the
heart, and conducted by means of the arteries to the most remote
parts of the body. The extremities of all the arteries being
connected with the beginning of the veins, the same force which
impels the blood through the former, helps to drive it through the
latter. The blood entering into the right auricle by the two
opposite currents of the vena cava superior and inferior, (that the
streams may not clash,) a fibrous excrescence is interposed, which
breaks the stroke of each, and throws both into their proper
receptacle. Thus is the blood reconducted to the great reservoir
from which it was originally impelled, and mixing with the new
chyle, which recruits its exhausted powers, circulates again, first
through the lungs, and then through the body.

Great benefits were expected to result from the transfusion of
blood into the veins of diseased persons : the first hint of this
great attempt was given so long since as 1658, by Dr. Christopher
Wren, Savilian professor of astronomy at Oxford. In the year
1666, the idea of transfusing liquor into the veins was improved
by Dr. Richard Lower, who invented the method of transfusing
the blood of one animal into another. This was followed by
Dr. Edmund King, who rendered Lower's method more complete
and easy ; and various experiments were made, by direction of
the Royal College of Physicians, upon horses, dogs, sheep,* &c.

* When the experiment was made some years since at Cambridge, by Professor
Harwood, the blood of a sheep was transfused into the veins of a pointer, and more
blood being admitted than was proper, the animal, sensible of plethora, began eating
grass (which instinct teaches them will produce sickness). An old bed-maker, who was

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS 149

From England this invention passed into France, where J. Denis,
doctor of physic at Paris, and Monsieur Emerez, performed this
operation upon human subjects. Experiments of the same kind
were likewise made by J. G. Riva, at Rome.

M. Denis published an account of a young man cured of
lethargy by transfusing the arterial blood of a lamb into his veins ;
and a surprising cure of madness was performed by transfusing
the blood of a calf into the veins of a man, in the presence of
many persons of rank and learning. On the 23d November,
1667, the blood of a lamb was transfused into the veins of Arthur
Coga, at Arundel House, by Dr. Edmund King and Dr. Richard
Lower; and Coga published an account of the benefit he received
by the experiment, under his own hand : but this operation having
been performed on Baron Bond, a son of the first minister of
state in Sweden (who had been given over by his physicians for
an inflammation in his bowels), and on another person in the last
stage of a consumption, both of which proved unsuccessful, the
practice fell into discredit, and was forbid by the king's authority
in France, and by the pope's mandate at Rome.

A discovery of great importance in medicine has conferred the
highest honours on the name of Haller; we mean of that property
essential to all animals, and likewise to plants, called irritability.
He distinctly proves, that in all living bodies there is a peculiar
property which distinguishes them from the dead; and Haller
may be truly said to have converted physiology into a science, by

present, immediately cried out, " Lord, maister ! see if your dog be'ent turn'd sheep
already ! " — Our anti-vaccinarians of the present day furnish abundance of similar wise
conclusions from similar data.

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relieving it from the uncertain fluctuations of conjecture, and
fixing its pretensions on the basis of actual experiment. This
discovery, like that of the circulation of the blood, was at first
opposed ; but when the evidence of incontrovertible facts had
convinced error, and silenced an opposition more obstinate, it was
then attempted to wrest the merit of the discovery from its
author.

The first who endeavoured to form a system of physic upon
the irritability of the fibre, was Dr. Brown, from whom it has
obtained the name of the Brunnonean system. His doctrine of
excitement, according to the opinion of a very competent judge,
is a specimen of extensive reasoning, truly calculated to afford
the highest satisfaction to a just thinker ; and he has clearly
demonstrated, that the several parts of that complicated machine,
the human body, OBEY THE SAME GREAT AND FUNDAMENTAL
LAWS.

When the personal conduct of Dr. Brown shall cease to be
opposed to his doctrines, and the grossness of his manners shall
no longer be supposed to affect the soundness of his reasoning,
then will posterity affix a real value upon his discovery, and
assign it that rank, to which, from its usefulness, it is entitled.

The length to which this article is already extended, prevents
our noticing many other discoveries in medicine which have been
made within the last century ; but we cannot omit the important
discovery of vaccination by Dr. Jenner, as a preventive against
the small-pox infection. This, like all the other great improve-
ments, has been opposed by the prejudices of indolence, vanity,
and envy : the solemn investigation and approbation of Parlia-
ment, the almost universal suffrages of the liberal and learned,,

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS 151

the success which has attended the practice of it by the most
enlightened nations, must, however, convey the highest gratifica-
tion to the mind of its benevolent author.

To destroy prejudice, and accelerate improvement, has always
been a work of time as well as difficulty.* In medicine it is
attended by circumstances which do not necessarily attach to the
other sciences ; but even with respect to them, it has always been
a subject of regret, that the greatest improvements are opposed
by the most obstinate prejudices. Sir Isaac Newton, writing to
Dr. Bentley, says, " If I had foreseen all the weight of opposition
that has arisen against me, I would have left to others the pursuit
of an empty shadow."

Dr. Fothergill observes, that it was thought audacity in
M. Fagon to defend the Harveian discovery, which had taken
place forty years preceding ; and yet Harvey lived to know, that

* His late majesty wished to have the streets of London and Westminster paved in
the present way, but advising with some Scotch physicians, they said it would be very
hurtful to the health of his majesty's good citizens of London, who had little time to
spare for taking exercise ; and that the jolting of a coach one mile over the stones, did
more service than travelling several miles on a better road. His majesty had too
serious a regard for the health of his people than to countenance any thing that might
injure it : however, several Londoners, who had observed the superiority of the streets
of Edinburgh, resolved, about fifty years ago, to make trial ; and we are credibly
informed, that York and St. James's were the first streets paved in the new way ; and
the mob were so displeased, that at night they took up what was put down in the day.
Among other objections, it was said that the stones were too small, and could not bear
the weight of carriages, and it would be so smooth the horses' feet would have no
footing. It was in vain to tell them, that the streets of Edinburgh had been paved more
than a hundred years back. The night watchmen being increased, and the trial
succeeding, it became universal, and many other towns and cities adopted it ; and I
believe nothing now would induce them to submit to have streets paved in the
old way.

i52 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

some of his opposers were ashamed of being thought to rank
among those who had ever doubted the circulation of the
blood.

Linnaeus created a new system of vegetable nature, and left
posterity to decide between him and its opposers. " These," said
he, pointing to some academic children at play, " these will be our
judges."

It is the reflection of being serviceable to our fellow creatures,
and the hope of being enrolled among the benefactors of man-
kind, that afford the best antidote to those feelings which are
excited by the envy or ingratitude of the age in which we live.

Medicine itself has not undergone more obvious changes, than
the appearance of medical practitioners. The solemn mummery*
of the profession is considerably abridged, and the mysteries of
physic, like the mysteries of religion, have almost disappeared in
an age more liberal and more enlightened.

This institution is governed by a president, eight electors, four
censors, a register, and a treasurer, who are annually chosen the
first week in October.

* Among other alterations in the dress of medical men, we shall notice an anecdote
of Dr. Sommervail, whose humour occasioned the disuse of the tie wig. Some of the
faculty having taken offence at the doctor, who frequently came to George's without a
sword and in coloured clothes, he was on that account insulted by his indignant brethren.
The following day he came to the coffee-house having on the Jehu wig of his coachman,
who, on the contrary, was dressed in the doctor's tie. "Here, gentlemen," says he, "is
an argument to the purpose, that knowledge does not consist in exteriors. There is not
one of you would trust me to drive him, and the world shall see, as I pass through the
streets of London, that the wig does not constitute the physician." Having for several
days made this curious exhibition, the tie wig at length became an object of ridicule,
rather than of respect

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS

'53

ELECTORS.

Sir Lucas Pepys, Bart. President.
Dr. Henry Revell Reynolds.
Dr. Richard Budd, Treasurer.
Sir Francis Milman, Bart.
Dr. David Pitcairn.
Dr. James Carmichael Smyth.
Dr. John Latham.
Dr. John Mayo.

CENSORS.
Dr. John Latham.
Dr. Richard Powell.
Dr. Charles Price.
Dr. Thomas Turner.

REGISTER.
Dr. James Harvey.

154

HOUSE OF COMMONS

IT may be rather desirable than unprofitable, in a popular
work of this nature, to give a short history of the English
constitution, before we describe either the courts of law,
or the three branches which compose the legislature, particularly
as it may enable our readers to enjoy with more facility the
dtvelopement of its different parts, if we delineate with correctness
and fidelity the more important outlines.

It may admit of some doubt whether this is precisely the sort
of work from which information of this nature may be reasonably
expected ; but as in this respect our minds, like our appetites,
are whetted by a change of food, and as variety supplies them
both with an increased relish for what is set before them, we
shall venture upon this part of our plan with the hope of being
useful to some of our readers, if not equally entertaining to all.

Delectando pariterque monendo. — HOR.

In the earlier stages of society, men appear to have lived in
the enjoyment of an uncontrolled liberty, subject to no other
rules of conduct than the mere laws of nature, until necessity or
convenience led them to associate in aggregate bodies. They
were impelled to this association, by their mutual wants and
fears ; government of some sort or other naturally resulted from

HOUSE OF COMMONS 155

society, because without it the community could neither be con-
tinued or preserved, or the individuals composing it reap those
advantages of assistance and protection which led them to
associate originally.

In this infant state of society, the rules of conduct, or positive
laws, must necessarily have been few : it is equally obvious, that
wisdom, virtue, or power, were the leading qualities which led
to a choice of the persons to whom the execution of these laws
should be confided ; or, in other words, these were considered
as the attributes of that sovereignty, to which all assented, and
by which all submitted to be governed.

We may still presume, that the chieftains of the unpolished
hordes which composed this stage of society, more frequently
decided from the passions of the moment, than from any fixed
and determinate rules of conduct. Even when society appears
to have made a greater progress, and mankind had arrived at
a higher degree of civilisation, we find their code of laws short,
general, and ambiguous, affording a specimen of the simplicity,
rather than the sagacity of its compilers.

The Jewish jurisprudence consisted of ten sentences ; and
even the Romans, availing themselves of all the assistance to
be derived from the more polished Greeks, comprised the laws
of their commonwealth in twelve tablets of brass ; a system so
short and compact, that, according to Cicero, every boy was
obliged to learn it by heart. But laws necessarily multiply in
much the same proportion as the refinements of society ; we are
not therefore to be surprised, that the laws of Rome, which,
under the Decemvirs, consisted of only a few brief sentences
should, in the latter ages of the empire, have become a " load

i56 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

for many camels;" nor will it excite our wonder, that the
Dome-book, or Liber Judicialis, of the great Alfred, contains the
foundation of our own jurisprudence, now so voluminous and
complicated.

LAND, which we may suppose to have been first held in
common, soon became the property of tribes, and afterwards
was parcelled out to individuals : hence certain rules of descent,
with a long train of entails, conveyances, grants, settlements,
and incumbrances. PERSONAL PROPERTY, the acquirement and
possession of which seems naturally to have resulted from the
protection and security which the regulations of society afforded,
was also accompanied by certain rules and customs, necessary
to its being devised, granted, or exchanged ; and these customs
in process of time assumed the name, and added to the number
of laws. THE LIBERAL AND MECHANIC ARTS likewise flourishing
in the same ratio that luxury, or the wants of society, increased ;
and COMMERCE, which is both the parent and child of riches,
introducing refinements of negociation, and complexity of rival
interests, eventually led to a more extended field of legislation.
The laws which relate to trade unavoidably swell in proportion
to the foreign and domestic relations of a country ; whilst those
which relate to property or personal security, having their founda-
tion in that refinement of wisdom which legislates for the pre-
vention, as well as chastisement of crimes, are susceptible of
almost daily increase.

Law, in its general sense, has been very properly defined to
be "a rule of human action dictated by a superior power :" and
the great fundamental rule of reason and of ethics is simply,
that "man should pursue his own happiness without injury to

HOUSE OF COMMONS 157

the happiness of others ; " for by whatever train of argument
we pursue the several branches into which different systems have
subdivided this universal rule, they all lead to the same inevitable
conclusion, that this action, tending either to the happiness or
misery of mankind, is therefore consistent with, or repugnant to,

the "LAWS OF NATURE."

In the present state of human imperfection, reason is not
always sufficient to point out with exact precision what conduct
will invariably assist us in this pursuit ; the same Providence,
therefore, which in its wisdom created, has in its goodness dis-
covered to us, by direct revelation, so much of the DIVINE LAW
as may be necessary to enforce our observance of that natural
law, which is essential to our own individual happiness and the
comfort of each other.

We have already stated, that necessity and convenience led
men naturally into a state of society ; but the same circumstances
made it impossible that the whole race of mankind should form
only one society. In their progress from a rude, uncultivated
state, to civilization and refinement, various forms of government
have been devised by different nations, adapted to their local
wants, or to their relative situation with other communities,
independent of them, but connected perhaps by habits of mutual
intercourse. This has made a third denomination of laws un-
avoidable and necessary. The intercourse between communities
that meet upon an equal footing, and who acknowledge no
superiority in one another, is regulated by the LAW OF NATIONS.

Quod naturalis ratio inter omnes homines constituit, vocatur jus GENTIUM.
It was before observed, that various forms of government have

158 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

been devised, the only object of which should have been the
mutual happiness and security of the whole community ; but the
history of mankind furnishes abundant proofs, that those in whom
the power of legislation has resided, or to whom the execution
of the laws has been committed, either entertained a very
different object, or have pursued it by means which unfortunately
produced very different effects. An eloquent historian* has
observed, that the reign of the Antonines furnishes the only
exception to this melancholy truth. It would appear, that in
treating of politics, the ancient writers considered only three
kinds of government as legitimate or regular, and that all others
were mere deviations from, and reduceable to one or other of
these. Thus Quintilian says, " It is uncertain how many subjects
" live under one government, but we are certain as to the forms :
" thus we know how many sorts of government exist, which are
"three, one wherein the people, another wherein a few, and the
" third wherein one man is sovereign."

A government partaking in its nature of all the three, avoiding
the inconveniences attached to them separately, was considered
as chimerical, if not altogether impracticable, — as a thing rather
to be desired than to be expected, — as a meteor, which, if it ever
illuminated the political horizon, might sparkle, but must soon
expire.

Statuo esse optime constitutam rempublicam quo ex tribus generibus illis, regali,
optimo, et popular!, modice confusa. — Cic. FRAGM.

Cunctas nationes, et urbes, populos aut priores aut singuli regunt ; delecta ex his
constituta reipublicae forma, laudari facilius quam evenire ; vel si evenit, baud diuturna
esse potest — TACIT. ANNAL. lib. iv.

* Vide Gibbon, vol. I.

HOUSE OF COMMONS 159

It was reserved for this country to exhibit, in the structure of
its constitution, a happy combination of these different systems,
and to establish the possibility of that union, which the political
writers here quoted seem to have looked for in vain. But we
are not to imagine this discovery was either the result of abstract
reasoning, the effect of a single effort, or even the work of a
single age. An impatience of slavery, and a rooted attachment
to personal and political freedom, seems to have been the pre-
dominant passion of the Britons in the most remote ages : from
that period when the first dawn of liberty gleamed upon our
druidical ancestors, they seem to have cherished this attachment
with enthusiastic ardour ; and the sacred flame of liberty appears
in succeeding ages to have survived the shock of commotions,
wViich threatened its utter extinction. Our information respecting
the ancient Britons is at best meagre and scanty ; the little we
are acquainted with we owe to their conquerors, but that little
is to their credit. The Druids were at once their priests and
legislators, and, armed with the power of superstition, exercised
over them a civil and criminal jurisdiction ; but the people in
general appear to have enjoyed a great portion of political
freedom. The difficulties which attended the conquest of our
ancestors by the Romans, bear ample testimony to their bravery ;
and the speeches of Galgacus, Boadicea, Caractacus, and other
British chieftains, furnish us with splendid examples of that
animating eloquence, which is produced by a love of liberty,
operating upon strong and ardent, but uncultivated minds.
During this arduous struggle of desultory courage against Roman
discipline, we are told by Tacitus, that their antipathy to slavery
was such, that when the Britons despaired of preserving them

160 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

from it by any other means, they frequently put their wives and
children to death with their own hands,

It would appear that the religion of the Britons assisted to
cherish this attachment, and by what standard shall we calculate
the efforts of the human mind, when reason is assisted by
prejudice, and prejudice animated by superstition ? Accordingly
we find, that the Romans, departing from their usual policy with
respect to conquered nations, found it necessary to abolish their
ancient worship by the most rigorous penal laws ; and even the
brave, the mild, and the accomplished Agricola, after conquering
them by his arms, endeavoured to subjugate their minds still
more, by the introduction of Roman luxuries, manners, and
jurisprudence. But the spirit of the people, however partially
subdued, was still unbroken ; and Tacitus informs us, " that the
Britons are a people who pay the taxes and obey the laws with
pleasure, so long as no arbitrary demands are made upon them ;
but these they cannot bear without the greatest impatience, for
they are reduced to the state of subjects, not of slaves."

The manners, the religion, and even the jurisprudence in-
troduced by the Romans, were in their turn obliterated by civil
dissension and future conquerors ; for when they were attacked
on all sides by the barbarians, and reduced to the necessity
of defending the center of their dominions, this island was
abandoned, with many other of their distant possessions. Left
to itself, it became successively a prey to some one or other of
the nations inhabiting the shores of the Baltic : at length, after
reciprocally annoying each other, it was subjugated by the
Saxons, a race of free, uncultivated barbarians, issuing from the
forests of Germany. The several sovereignties of which England

HOUSE OF COMMONS 161

was at this period composed, were united in one kingdom under
Egbert ; and the Saxon laws and customs, mingled with the
local practices of the country, form at this day the common law,
or lex non-scripta. The successors of Egbert, who are de-
nominated the Anglo-Saxon line, continued to reign about two
hundred years ; but we know little of the constitution at this
period, except that, like all the governments established by the
northern nations, a king and a body of nobility were component
parts of it.

Of these princes, Alfred and Edward the Confessor are par-
ticularly distinguished : the former supplying the deficiencies of
education by the vigour of his mind, and by the force of his
uncommon genius dispelling the gloom of a Gothic and barbarous
age, has acquired the high reputation of being the founder of our
laws and constitution. It has, however, been imagined by the
more enlightened, that having ascertained the particular customs
and local practices of his kingdom, he only formed from them
his Liber Judicialis, and exerted the whole weight of his power
for the observance of his laws. This period forms the first, and
almost the brightest aera in the history of our legislation. Alfred
took care to have his nobility instructed, and his judges and civil
officers were selected for their probity and knowledge : he was
severe in punishing any malversation committed by the higher
class of delinquents. He instituted the county and hundred
courts, and was himself indefatigable in promoting the general
welfare of his subjects. It is to him that we are indebted for
that noble palladium of liberty, that great security for all our
other privileges, the institution of the trial by jury ; for although
its form is said to have prevailed among most of the nations of

162 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Gothic descent, and probably in some parts of England, yet it
appears that we are indebted to Alfred for its more general
adoption in this country. The trial by jury seems to be
that point of their liberty from which all its rays diverge,
and it is that to which the people of England have at all
times appeared to be most thoroughly and most deservedly
attached.

In criminal cases particularly it increases the security of the
people from the effect of judicial power, and from that power
being made subservient to the views or personal resentments
of the monarch : this security is further strengthened, in the
exercise of a power on which the happiness or life of a fellow
creature depends, by the feeling which every man must have,
that his own fate may be essentially connected, in the course
of human events, with the doom of that man upon whose
conduct he is about to decide. If in the lapse of ages we
forget the debt of gratitude we owe to the author of this
feature in the constitution, which distinguishes it from the
jurisprudence of every other nation, let us at least stop to
admire the ingenuity of an institution, which enables every
man in this country to enjoy a security derived immediately
from the laws, and independent of the will or arbitrary power
of any individual.

The subsequent irruption of the Danes led to the introduction
of new laws and customs, known by the name of the Dane-lage;
but these were principally confined to the eastern and midland
counties, where these piratical freebooters had formed their
establishment. When Canute restored the Saxon customs in
a general assembly of the states, he also enforced a proper

HOUSE OF COMMONS 163

execution of the laws, and dispensed a strict and impartial
justice. After the two succeeding reigns, we find Edward the
Confessor made a new digest from the institutions of Ethelbert,
Ina, and Alfred. This compilation, which forms the basis of our
common law* so favourable to liberty, was long an object of
affection to the English people, who struggled hard, though
ineffectually, to restore it under the first princes of the Norman
line. It was this code which occasioned Edward to be styled
legum Anglicorum restitutor, as Alfred had before been called
conditor. It was particularly endeared to the nation, from its

* The common law doth seem to be set in opposition by some, not only to the civil
law, to the ecclesiastical law, to the statute law, but also the Chancery, and to the decrees
thereof, as if those decrees were no part of the law of the land and of the common law.
But for the clearing thereof it will be very requisite to look into the beginning of ours
and others laws as how that term of common law first began, the word common being
never applied to one, but to many ; as when two or more nations or people, which
were formerly governed by several princes and several laws, were afterwards united
under one prince and one law, then such laws were called common law. So we read of
jus commune Romanorum, that governed the whole empire ; jura communia Longobarda
et Romana, when the Longobardi had conquered a great part of Italy, and were united
to the ancient inhabitants and others.

So with us, when the Saxons had conquered a great part of this island, and had set
up several kingdoms in it, and had several laws whereby those kingdoms were governed,
as the West-Saxon law, the Mercian law, the Northumbrian law ; and afterwards the
Danes prevailing, set up their laws, called by them the Danish law.

The several kingdoms coming to be united, and the name of England given unto
this kingdom by them, and afterwards Edward (called the Confessor) being sole king
thereof, caused one body of law to be compiled out of those several laws, and did ordain
that those laws of his should be common to all his subjects ; and in those laws of King
Edward the Confessor that term of common law first began with us, being called common
in respect of those several people that before lived under several laws, to whom those
laws were now common, though, in respect of the author, they were called Edward
the Confessor's laws, or Saint Edward's laws.— RAN. CESTR. SPELMAN, STOW, SPEED,
DANIEL.

i. — M

1 64 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

decisions being universally known, and from its being particularly
adapted to their genius, manners, and habits.

But the period was now arrived when our ancestors were to
exchange the mild and beneficent government of the Saxon laws,
for the arbitrary will and continental severities of William the
Conqueror, who having defeated Harold, ascended the throne
as a conqueror, subverted the whole Saxon fabric, and introduced
the feudal system of government. It is true, this system pre-
vailed in almost every nation upon the continent ; but there its
oppressive train of reliefs, fines, and services, had been inter-
woven with the earliest ideas of the people, it had been derived
from their ancestors, and was cherished in some measure by an
opinion of its political utility. But in England the feudal system
was introduced all at once by force of arms, and was more
severely felt, as it daily contrasted with their old laws, habits,
and prejudices, and insultingly reminded them, that they were
a conquered and suspected people. Almost the whole property
of the kingdom was transferred to other hands, and the lands,
no longer allodial, were held at the will of a superior lord.
A new plan of criminal jurisprudence was introduced, and the
little which remained of their liberties was regulated by a foreign
law, expressed in a strange and unknown language. But the
most wanton and cruel innovation to which they were subject
was the forest laws, which operating as so many penal statutes,
inflicted the loss of an eye as the punishment for killing a hare,
at the same time the crime of murder could be expiated by
a pecuniary fine. The right of imposing taxes was also assumed,
and the most extensive judicial authority personally exercised by

HOUSE OF COMMONS 165

this monarch. He established a court of dernier resort in civil
and criminal cases, called Aula Regis* which being composed of
the great officers of his court, removable at pleasure, and having
the king himself for president, may be truly styled a most formid-
able tribunal. But liberty seems to be like that herb which
flourishes more vigorously the more it is trod upon. The exces-
sive power of the monarch, and the arbitrary, tyrannical manner
in which it was exercised, sunk deep into the minds of the
people, and nourished that general disposition to resist, and
that union among all ranks, which ultimately made resistance
effectual.

From this state of oppression the nation imagined they were
about to be relieved under Henry I. who having usurped the
throne of his elder brother, endeavoured to maintain his power
by removing many of the grievances which existed during the
reigns of the Conqueror and his son Rufus; he abolished those
laws which bore heaviest on the people, particularly the curfew,
and softened the severities of the feudal system in favour both
of the barons and the vassals. But a circumstance happened
in this reign which had nearly proved fatal to the portion of
common law which survived the rigours of the Norman conquest,
and which was still fondly cherished by some of the barons.
This was the discovery of a copy of the Pandects of Justinian,
about the year 1130, at Amalfi, in Italy. Whatever merit the
Roman jurisprudence may possess, it seems better calculated for

* Out of which court of Aula Regis the four courts of Westminster, the Chancery
King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, were afterwards derived.

166 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the meridian of absolute monarchy,* than likely to assimilate
with the habits of a people impressed with a strong attachment
to liberty. It was, however, the interest of the church of Rome
to propagate this study, and we find it introduced by the clergy
with all the weight of their influence, which was not inconsider-
able ; for, at this period, they were almost the only depositories
of learning, had monopolized all the great law offices, and filled
nearly all the subordinate departments, f This novelty was, how-

* Under William the Conqueror, and his immediate successors, a multitude of
foreign ecclesiastics flocked to the court of England. The English nobility saw with
the greatest jealousy men of a condition so different from their own, vested with a
power, to the attacks of which they were immediately exposed, and thought that they
would carry that power to the height, if they should ever adopt a system of laws
which those same men sought to introduce, and of which they would necessarily
become both the depositories and the interpreters. It happened, therefore, by a some-
what singular conjunction of circumstances, that, to the Roman laws brought over to
England by monks, the idea of ecclesiastical power became associated, in the same
manner as the idea of regal despotism was afterwards annexed to the religion of the
same monks, when favoured by kings who endeavoured to establish an arbitrary govern-
ment. The nobility at all times rejected these laws even with a degree of ill humour :
and the usurper, Stephen, whose interest it was to conciliate their affections, went so far
as to prohibit the study of them. Even at present the English lawyers attribute the
liberty they enjoy, and of which other nations are deprived, to their having rejected,
while those nations have admitted, the Roman law ; which is mistaking the effect for the
cause. It is not because the English have rejected the Roman laws that they are free,
but it is because they were free (or at least because there existed among them causes
which were, in process of time, to make them so), that they have been able to reject the
Roman laws. -DE LOLME.

t For the chancellor and chief justice of England were assistants to the king in
all judgments for many ages before and after, and neither then nor for many years after
King Edward the Confessor's time, was the common law come to be a profession, nor
lawyers made judges or pleaders. In former times the most learned clerks were best
studied in the laws, so the clergy thrust into almost all places of judicature ; when it was
said, Nullus clericus nisi causidicus. But King Edward the First, after the conquest,
being, as it is said, weary of the great power of the chief justice of England, was the

HOUSE OF COMMONS 167

ever, successfully resisted by the laity, and the contest at length
terminated in the secession of the clergy from the courts of
justice, which they had occupied both as judges and advocates.
The firm temper which the nobility and laity in general, dis-
covered upon this occasion, does not appear to have subsided
even at the distance of more than a century, when it was
declared, " That the realm of England hath never been unto
this hour, neither, by the consent of our lord the king and the
lords of Parliament, shall it ever be, ruled, or governed, by the
civil law." " Parceque le roialme d'Engleterre n'etoit devant ces
heures, ne a 1'entent du roy notre seignior, et seigniors du Parle-
ment, unques ne sera rule ne govern^ par la loy civil." — PARL.
WESTMON. Feb. 3, 1379.

In the succeeding reign, liberty seems to have made a further
progress by the revival of the ancient trial by jury. It was not,
however, till the reign of King John that those discontents broke
out, which the policy of the two Henries had contrived to
smother ; a weak and tyrannical prince,* whose mind, enfeebled

first that altered that course, by making laymen judges, who kept the robes of the
former judges, as they do to this day ; and then the common law came to be a profession
and a study, and students of laws to be pleaders in courts, and after to be judges ; and
from that time the common law by degrees is grown to that height we now see it is come
to. — Vindication of the Institution of the Court of Chancery.

* As the reputation of the Roman prelates grew up in these blind ages, so grew
up in them withal a desire of amplifying their power, that they might be as great in
temporal forces, as men's opinions have formed them in spiritual matters. — RALEIGH.

King John, in the thirteenth year of his reign, being in extreme fear of both the
pope and the French king, and especially of his own subjects, sent ambassadors to
Admiralius Afurmelinus, great Emperor of Turkey, to offer to be of his religion, and
to make his kingdom tributary to him, and he and his subjects to be vassals to him,

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by superstition, and rendered more despotic by the exercise of
uncontrolled power, contrived to unite the nobility of his kingdom
so completely against him, that, when the standard of rebellion
was set up, he was forsook even by his courtiers, and, with the

and to hold his kingdom of him ; but that infidel great prince (as a thing unworthy
of a king to deny his religion and betray his kingdom) utterly refused to accept the
offer. King John, in the fourteenth year of his reign, by his charter (isth May),
through the persuasion and threats of the pope's commissary, Pandulphus, surrendered
his kingdoms of England and Ireland to Pope Innocent III. cum communi consilio
baronum, as he inserted therein, and that thenceforward he would hold his crown
as fcedary to the pope, paying for both the kingdoms 1000 marks. Whereupon he
did homage and fealty to the pope, by the hand of Pandulphus, at whose feet he
laid also the royal ensigns, his sceptre, sword, and ring ; all which was afterwards
accepted, approved, and ratified by the pope by his bull, which was called Bulla
aurea.

Pope Gregory demanded arrears of Edward I. Rex respondet, se sine prelatis et
proceribus regni non posse respondere, et quod jurejurando in coronatione sua fuit
astrictus, quod jura regni sui servaret illibata, nee aliquid quod diadema tangat regni
ejusdem absque ipsorum requisit, concilia faceret.

In the fortieth year of Edward III. the pope also demanded homage and arrears,
with a threat, that if they were not paid he would proceed against the king. Edward
called his court of Parliament, where it was resolved, That King John, nor any other,
could not put himself, or his kingdoms, or his people, in such subjection, without the
assent of them, the Lords and Commons in Parliament : That if he had done this,
it was without their consent, and against his coronation oath ; and that if the pope
should attempt to enforce the demand, they would resist with all their power. This
noble and prudent king took the fairest and surest way to give satisfaction ; whereof
the pope being certified, the matter hath ever since rested in quiet. — And it is declared
in full Parliament (Ro. PARL. 42^ Edw. III. nu. 7), upon demand made of them
in behalf of the king, That they could not assent to anything in Parliament that
tended to the disherison of the king and his crown, whereunto they were sworn. —
4 INST. 13, 14.

It may be amusing to some of our readers if we transcribe a curious anecdote re-
lating to this prince, who, disappointed of the throne of France by the brave resistance
of the garrison of Calais, resolved to take revenge, and demanded six of the principal
inhabitants of that place to be led to him with halters about their necks, as a due

HOUSE OF COMMONS 169

few attendants who had not deserted him, was compelled to
submit himself to the disposal of his injured subjects. It was
under these circumstances that he signed the Charter of the
Forest at Runnemede, by which the most intolerable and tyranni-

atonement for the crime of resistance to their lawful sovereign, as he chose to style
himself. The governor, Eustace Saint Pierre, first of all voluntarily and cheerfully
gave himself up as a ransom for the city ; " and I doubt not," says he, " there are
many here as ready, nay more zealous for this martyrdom than I can be, however
modesty and the fear of imputed ostentation may withhold them from being foremost
in exhibiting their merits." — "Yes there are !" exclaimed his son. — "Ah, my child!"

exclaimed St. Pierre, " I am then twice sacrificed but no — I have rather begotten

thee a second time. Thy years are few, but full, my son ; the victim of virtue has
reached the utmost purpose and goal of mortality. — Who next, my friends ? This is
the hour of heroes." — " Your kinsman ! " cried James Wissant. — " Your kinsman !
cried Peter Wissant. — " Ah ! " exclaimed Sir Walter Mauny, bursting into tears, " why
was I not a citizen of Calais ?"

The sixth victim was still wanting, but was supplied by lot from numbers who
were emulous of so ennobling an example.

The keys of the city were then delivered to Sir Walter. He took the six prisoners
into his custody ; but before they departed, the citizens desired permission to take
their last adieu of their deliverers. What a parting ! what a scene ! They crowded,
with their wives and children, about St. Pierre and his fellow prisoners. They
embraced, they fell prostrate before them — they groaned — they wept aloud ; and the
clamour of their mourning passed the gates of the city, and was heard throughout
the camp.

At length St. Pierre and his fellow victims appeared under the conduct of Sir Walter
and his guard. All the tents of the English were instantly emptied ; the soldiers poured
from all parts, and arranged themselves on each side, to admire this little band of
patriots as they passed. They murmured their approbation and applause of that virtue
which they could not but revere even in enemies, and they regarded those ropes
which encompassed their necks, as ensigns of greater dignity than that of the British
Garter.

As soon as they had reached the royal presence, "MAUNY," said the king, "are
these the principal inhabitants of Calais?" — "They are," says Mauny ; "they are not
only the principal men of Calais, they are the principal men of France, my lord, if
virtue has any share in the act of ennobling." — " Were they delivered peaceably ? " says

1 70 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

cal parts of the forest laws were softened or abolished. But the
most important advance towards the establishment of public
liberty was, the obtaining from him that famous charter, which,
on account of its superior and extensive importance, was de-
nominated Magna Charta. By this charter a written law was
substituted for those general maxims of right or policy, upon
which the privileges of the subject, and the duties of the prince,
are supposed to depend. The rights of the individual to protec-
tion both in his person and property, are clearly ascertained by
the admission and consent of both parties, and the great and
leading objects of political association settled. It would seem
almost impracticable for human ingenuity to carry these points
much higher.

Nullus liber homo capiatur, vel imprisonetur, vel dissesiatur de
libero tenemento suo, vel libertatibus, vel liberis consuetudinibus
suis, aut utlagetur, aut exuletur, aut aliquo modo destruatur, nee

Edward, "was there no resistance, no commotion among the people?" — "Not in the
least, my lord. They are self-delivered, self-devoted, and come to offer up their in-
estimable heads as an ample equivalent for the ransom of thousands." The king, who
was incensed at the difficulty of the siege, ordered them to be carried to immediate
execution, nor could all the remonstrances of his courtiers divert him from his purpose.
But what neither a regard to his own interest and honour, the dictates of justice, nor the
feelings of humanity, could effect, was accomplished by the influence of conjugal
affection. The queen, who was then advanced in pregnancy, being informed of the
particulars respecting the six victims, flew into her husband's presence, threw herself
on her knees before him, and, with tears in her eyes, besought him not to stain his
character with an indelible mark of infamy, by committing such a barbarous deed.
Edward could refuse nothing to a wife whom he so tenderly loved, and especially in
her situation. The queen, not satisfied with having saved the lives of the six burghers,
conducted them to her tent, where she applauded their virtue, regaled them plentifully,
and having made them a present of money and clothes, sent them back to their
fellow citizens. •

HOUSE OF COMMONS 171

super eum mittemus, nisi per legale judicium parium suorum, vel
per legem terras. Nulli vendemus, nulli negabimus, aut differemus
justiciam, vel rectum. — MAGNA CHART, cap. xxxix. 40.

At this period, the Court of Common Pleas, which had been
ambulatory, and removable with the king's household from one
part of the kingdom to another, was fixed to a certain spot,* viz.
to the palace of Westminster only. This circumstance led to an
association of the lay professors of law, who, employing their
joint abilities in its perfection, formed themselves into a regular
and separate order, and gave to the study of the common law
the appearance of a liberal and enlightened science. It was
perhaps fortunate that this incident should occur about the period
of which we are now speaking, otherwise the zeal and activity
with which the clergy continued to introduce the civil in opposi-

* Communia placita nan sequantur curiam nostram, sed teneantur in aliquo loco
certo. — MAGNA CHARTA, cap. xvii.

The four courts, then included in one court, called Aula Regis, did follow the king's
court, whereupon they were afterwards called courts : but by the Great Charter granted
by King John, and after by King Henry III. in the third year of his reign, which he
renewed with some alterations in the ninth year, being the eighteenth year of his age,
the Common Pleas was appointed to be holden in a place certain, and not to follow
the king's court ; yet the chancellors and judges of the King's Bench did long after
follow the king's court, as appeareth by the statute Articuli super Chartas, 28th
Edw. I. c. 7.

Speaking of the common law, or the laws which our histories so often mention
under the name of the laws of Edward the Confessor, Blackstone observes, " These
" are the laws that so vigorously withstood the repeated attacks of the civil law ; which
" established in the twelfth century a new Roman empire over most of the states of the
" continent, states that have lost, and perhaps upon that account, their political liberties ;
" while the free constitution of England, perhaps on the same account, has been rather
" improved than debased."

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tion to the common law, might have led to the entire neglect
of the latter.

The learning of this period was likewise principally confined to
the clergy, and the papal church was not satisfied with merely
extending a spiritual supremacy over its less enlightened subjects
(vide note page 168), the dark cloud drawn over the human mind
by Catholic superstition, and the violent convulsions caused
throughout the continent of Europe by the feudal system of
government, produced an effect equally strong in this country.
Imperial Rome, who, in the days of her republic, and during
the tyranny of her own Caesars, had known nothing of either,
came at last to dictate in both. The eagle, grown blind with
age, could soar no longer, and the standard upon which it was
displayed, was torn down and destroyed with impunity by
northern and eastern barbarians, who, subdued in their turn
by church policy, bowed their necks to the figure of the cross.
Under this standard the Roman pontiffs governed mankind
more imperiously, from the Baltic to the Caspian sea, without
a single legion, than the senate, the consuls, the dictators,
and the emperors, had heretofore done with forty to support
them.

Under the long reign of King John's son, the people became
better acquainted with their own importance, from the succession
of differences which arose between Henry and his nobles.
Courted, because necessary to both parties, they were alter-
nately rewarded by each with the accession of new privileges :
they obtained a confirmation of the Great Charter, and likewise
the acquisition of important rights by the statutes of Merton and
of Marlebridge.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

The reign of Edward I. forms a noble and interesting aera
in the progress of our legislation. It does not require the
authority of Sir Matthew Hale to convince the intelligent
observer, how rapid an improvement our laws received during
the reign of our English Justinian. Sir Edward Coke is indeed
lavish in his panegyric upon this period, asserting, that the
statutes enacted during his reign, were more constant, standing,
and durable, than any which had been since made. Blessed
with an enlightened mind and cultivated understanding, succeed-
ing to a weak and tyrannical prince, whose injustice had rendered
the people unhappy, he endeavoured to heal the wounds which
had been inflicted, and to conciliate the affection of his subjects.
Sensible how important to the attainment of these objects was
the upright administration of justice, he took immediate steps
to bring the judges who had become corrupt, before his Parlia-
ment ; and all of them, except two, being convicted, were fined
and removed. This was an important step towards restraining
a refractory nobility, and restoring confidence to the people.
He bestowed a considerable portion of his time to the study
of jurisprudence, settled the jurisdiction of his several courts,
and completed the division of the Exchequer into four separ-
ite and distinct courts. He fixed the mode of process ; and
by means of a professional fiction, business might be
carried from one court to another, they naturally became
rivals and checks upon each other. It is to him we are
indebted for the establishment of perhaps the most useful
body of men in this or any other country, justices of the
peace. He abolished the dangerous office of chief justiciary,
and appointed more to be judges in criminal causes. He has

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the honour of being the first Christian prince who restrained the
exorbitant and unalienable acquisitions of the church, by the
statute of mortmain. But what adds in a greater degree to
the celebrity of his reign, was, the calling for the first time
the deputies from the towns and boroughs to Parliament. It
is, in fact, from this sera we may date the origin of the popular
branch of our constitution : for although, during the reign of
King John, there are some writs extant, by which knights of
shires were summoned, yet this appears to be the first time the
sheriffs were ordered to invite the towns and boroughs to send
deputies. If at this period the representatives of the people
were not clothed with the power or privileges which they have
since acquired, yet we cannot be insensible to the important
advantage the people even at this time obtained, from the right
of assembling in a legal way, to state their grievances at the
foot of the throne ; thereby acquiring such an influence over
the motions of government, as rendered them every day more
and more important, and at length terminated in their becoming
a part of the government itself. But liberty made a still more
important stride during this reign ; and if Magna Charta was
wrested from the imbecility of John, to protect the personal
freedom of those who obtained it, the statute De Tallagio non
concedendo, was obtained from the greatness of Edward, to
protect and give security to the Great Charter itself. By this
statute it was enacted, Nullum tallagium vel auxilium, per nos,
vel heredes nostros, in regno nostro ponatur seu levetur, sine
voluntate et assensu archiepiscoporum, episcoporum, comitum,
baronum militum, burgensium, et aliorum liberorum hominum
de regno nostro. — Stat. ann. 24 Ed. I.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

The Great Charter was also confirmed no less than eleven
times during his reign ; and the statute Confirmatio Cartarum,
directing it to be allowed as part of the common law, passed
in his twenty-fifth year.

It was at this period the beauty of the constitution began to
appear, when the mutual checks which resulted from the dignity
of the crown, the influence of the nobles, and the power of the
people, began to operate : for although during a long interval
of weak princes, such as Edward II. Richard II. and Henry VI.
the English laws were susceptible of little amelioration ; and
little improvement was to be expected in juridical matters under
such warlike princes as Henry IV. Henry V. and Edward IV.
yet their reigns afford continual instances of the increasing power
of the commons, and the seeds of their greatness (which are
before noticed) began to germinate with considerable strength.

Their first effort was under Edward II. when the bills for
subsidies were accompanied with petitions. To Edward III.
they declared their resolution not to acknowledge any law, to
which they had not expressly assented. It was during this reign
the commons exerted a new privilege, which not only contributes
an eminent degree to the preservation of public liberty, but in
the exercise of which, at this moment, consists one of the greatest
balances of the constitution — the impeachment of ministers for
maladministration. The disgrace of Latimer and Neville,
besides persons of inferior note, shews the value as well as the
extent of the inquisitorial power even at this early period. We
may, likewise, form a tolerable opinion of the influence which the
representatives of the people had obtained, from the arbitrary
attempts made by ministers, in the succeeding reign, to influence

1 76 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

their elections. We must not forget to mention, that one of the
most popular statutes ever enacted by any prince, was that which
passed in the twenty-fifth year of this reign, limiting to three
principal heads the cases of high treason, which were before
vague, ambiguous, and indefinite : indeed the limitations of this
statute (which still remains in force) were so exceedingly strict,
that the lawyers of after times have been bold enough to enlarge
them. In this reign, likewise, the practice of suspending justice
by particular warrants was one of the complaints of the commons,
and the pressing of men and ships formed another item in their
catalogue of grievances. In the reign of Henry IV. they went
so far as to refuse supplies before an answer was given to their
complaints.

The succeeding reign was too much occupied with foreign wars
to admit leisure for the consideration of many new laws ; and
during the reign of Henry VI. the contest between the Houses
of York and Lancaster almost entirely suspended the laws already
in existence. At length the dawn of internal peace seemed to
promise a return of happier scenes under Henry VII. who united
the two families by marriage ; but the specious virtues of this
prince were infinitely less the effect of nature than of art, and his
chief merit seems to have been the management of his revenue
with prudence and economy. If during the horrors of civil war,
and amidst the din of arms, we are not to look for juridical
improvements, or even a strict observance of established forms ;
yet it might have been reasonably expected, that the people, but
just relieved from scenes of mutual slaughter and desolation,
would have been at least indulged in the enjoyment of their
liberty, without annoyance from the hand which they had bled

HOUSE OF COMMONS 177

to support : but Henry had resentments to gratify, as well as
promises to fulfil ; and when he ascended the throne, he beheld
the nobility of his kingdom almost exterminated, and his subjects
fatigued, harassed, and unresisting : but even under such circum-
stances we find the early part of this reign disgraced with plots,
treasons, insurrections, and impostures, which may furnish some
excuse for the severities that were practised. This monarch
appears to have entertained the most judicious plan of restraining
his nobility and the clergy, not so much by depressing them to an
inferior standard, as by raising the intermediate classes between
them and the populace to a higher rank; for this purpose, we find,
that he not only extended every encouragement to commerce, but
that he never once omitted to secure the rights of the merchant
in his treaties with foreign powers. What perhaps contributed
much more to the ultimate completion of this object, was, the act
by which the nobility were enabled to sell their estates ; a law
extremely popular with the commons, and by no means dis-
agreeable to the nobles, as it afforded them an immediate source
for indulging their taste for ostentation and prodigality, and the
effect of it attaching upon their posterity, was too remote from
their present feelings to make its policy objectionable.

The succeeding reign presents a picture of liberty in so
deplorable a state, as to excite an idea, that the period was
arrived in which it was to experience the same fate it had done
in France, and indeed upon almost the whole continent of
Europe. The treasures of the late king, which had been artfully
collected and carefully hoarded, were dissipated in ridiculous
pageants, criminal pleasures, or expeditions foolishly employed :
money must therefore be raised, and to this end the people were

178 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

again consulted, and for some time cajoled. Wolsey, the crafty
minister, first obtained a considerable sum under the title of a
benevolence, which, to the circumstance of its being an extortion,
superadded the mortification of being considered as a free gift.
But this resource being exhausted, the king was obliged again to
address himself to the representatives of the people, who only
granted half the supplies demanded ; they even went so far as
to refuse to permit Wolsey to be heard in the house upon the
subject, having resolved, That none could be permitted to sit or
argue there, but such as had been elected members. Even when
the spirit of freedom has been extinguished, the tamest subjects
have been found to resist an unusual attack upon their property,
particularly when insult has accompanied injury ; and thus a
feeling of national honour, and a regard for public liberty, have
sometimes arisen out of the less honourable sense of private
interest. But whatever may have been the causes that produced
it, we cannot but admire the constancy with which the commons,
even during this reign, vindicated their right to refuse subsidies ;
a right which was destined to prove the instrument of their own
preservation, and also of the liberties of the people. In this
respect they seem to have departed from the servile obedience
to the will of the crown, which in other respects governed their
proceedings ; particularly in that ' ' amazing heap of wild and new-
fangled treasons" which during his reign disgraced the statute
books of this kingdom ; laws, respecting which the most
extraordinary circumstance is, that a body of men could ever
be induced to give their consent to them. Henry, however,
found a more ample fund to recruit his exhausted exchequer, in
the suppression of religious houses, and the sequestration of all

HOUSE OF COMMONS 179

the monastic revenues, which were calculated to amount to at
least one twentieth part of the national income, or above 1 6o,ooo/.
per annum.

But waste and prodigality soon disposed of what ingenuity and
rapine had accumulated, and however wide this monarch had
extended his prerogative, it remained with the commons to
provide the means of supporting it : indeed he appears to have
carried the despotism of the crown to a most astonishing length ;
it was even enacted, that the proclamations of the king should
have the force of law, according to that principle of the Roman
code, L. i. lib. i. tit. 4. dig. Quod principi placuerit legis habet
vigorem ; or in the old French, Que vent le roy, ce veut la voy.
By this act public liberty would seem to have received a blow
from which it could scarcely recover; but the political rights of the
people being inseparably connected with the rights of property,
and the power of supplying the wants of the crown being the
privilege of the commons, and one to which they clung as to
a last plank in the wreck of every thing else, enabled them, in
more favourable times, to lead the constitution back to its old
limits, and to raise more effectual barriers against future usur-
pations. Accordingly we find, in the short reign of Edward VI.
this act, as well as those absurd and tyrannical laws against
treason, were abolished.

We hasten over the fanaticism of Mary's reign, and the
complicated miseries which her cruelty and bigotry brought
upon the nation, by turning religion back to its primitive
abuses.

The restoration of the Protestant religion under Elizabeth,
brought with it a greater degree of toleration ; but the hand

I. — N

i8o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

of arbitrary power still pressed hard upon the people, and nothing
but the brilliant achievements of her reign, the dangers which the
nation experienced from abroad, and the degree of personal
affection which attached her subjects to this great princess, could
have made them endure, or have rendered them even passive
under the tyranny which she exercised to the very verge of
despotism. As if the Star Chamber was not vested with power
sufficiently oppressive, the inquisitorial tribunal of the High
Commission was instituted. But the veil which had been thrown
over her arbitrary and oppressive measures by the brilliancy of
her reign, and the glory which attended it, was effectually removed
in the succeeding reigns. The Stuarts, in consequence of a less
violent exertion of prerogative, were doomed to atone for their
indiscretions in a way that will hereafter teach an awful lesson
both to princes and to the people. A spirit of opposition displayed
itself during the reign of James I. which gave strong symptoms
of that returning love of liberty, which had only been smothered,
but not destroyed, in the people, and which, at the commencement
of the succeeding reign, presented a gloomy and most formidable
aspect. The Protestant religion too became identified as it were
with the same spirit of liberty, and mingled itself with the politics
of the people : the prerogatives of the sovereign were examined
with the same freedom they had been accustomed to exercise
towards the Romish religion, and as the latter had proved unable
to bear the test, so the unlimited supremacy of the former was
not likely to be tolerated. After assenting to the Petition of
Right, and the act by which the compulsory taxes, disguised
under the veil of benevolences, were declared to be contrary to
law, after arbitrary imprisonments and martial law were abolished,

HOUSE OF COMMONS 181

after the court of High Commission and the Star Chamber were
suppressed, and the constitution freed from the apparatus of
despotic powers with which the two Henries had obscured it,
there was nothing left to which a monarch might be supposed
to cling, or for which he might be warranted to contend at the
risk of his crown and the hazard of his life : but the ambition
of private individuals, and the fanaticism of persecuting sects,
uniting, induced the unfortunate Charles to preserve an un-
bending dignity, and drove him to a resistance which he had
not adequate means, in the love or loyalty of his subjects, to
support ; even the private virtues of the prince were insufficient
to protect him, in the contempt and disregard of his public
duties.

In vain was a republic endeavoured to be planted on the ruins
of royalty : power, the object and pursuit of the many, was doomed
to shift hands with precipitancy ; attached for a short time to the
democratic leaders of the long Parliament, it soon passed to a pro-
tector, and thence became parcelled out to military adventurers.
The good sense of the nation having enabled it to recover from
the fanaticism which had produced these extensive evils, eagerly
returned to that order of things, a deviation from which had
caused so much blood to flow; and the return of Charles II.
was welcomed with enthusiasm and rapture.

It was natural to suppose, that the misfortunes of his father,
and the lessons he had received in the school of adversity, would
at least have taught this monarch to avoid the rock upon which
his parent had been wrecked ; but he came to the throne with
notions of arbitrary power, and ideas of the royal prerogative,
very different from those which were entertained by his subjects,

1 82 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

and very inconsistent with his own happiness as the monarch of a
free people : but the eagerness of his measures destroyed their
effect, and liberty made her greatest efforts under the auspices of
a sovereign and a family most inimical to her existence. The
military services due to the crown were remitted, the laws against
heretics repealed, and the Habeas Corpus act, which is con-
sidered (and properly so) as a second Great Charter, was finally
established, and made an effectual barrier to secure the personal
liberty of the subject. All this was done with a family upon
the throne, whose endeavours were constantly and uniformly
directed to increase the power, and to extend the prerogatives,,
of the crown.

At length James II. ascended the throne, and, in a manner still
more open and undisguised, pursued the projects which had proved
so fatal to his predecessors : not satisfied with endeavouring to
establish a right in himself to dispense with the laws, he would
have subverted the Protestant religion, which the people had so
often and so zealously bled to maintain ; and upon the ruins of it
would have planted that system of religious faith, the principal
doctrines of which supported the most unqualified notions of
arbitrary power. The liberties of the people being thus attacked
in their first principles, they had recourse to that remedy which,
reason and nature seem to point out, when the guardian of the laws
becomes the destroyer of them. They withdrew their allegiance?
and as if to cease to reign was the natural consequence of such a
conduct, and as if such a situation had been actually provided for
by the constitution, or by the principles of government, every
thing else remained in its place : the throne alone was declared
vacant ; a new line of succession was established, and the Prince

HOUSE OF COMMONS 183

of Orange was invited to the throne by the voice of the nation.
Under such circumstances, it is a subject of the highest admiration
and astonishment, to observe with what moderation and temper
this revolution was'effected, and how much caution was employed
to avoid trampling upon those rights and privileges of sovereignty,
without which the crown cannot long remain an honour to the
chief magistrate of a country, or be rendered useful to the people
themselves. It was declared, That to impose taxes without the
assent of the commons, or to keep a standing army in time of
peace, was contrary to law. The Bill of Rights was framed, and
received the royal assent ; by which it was settled, that subjects,
of whatever rank, had a right to present petitions to the king :
and soon after, the liberty of the press was established, by the
refusal of Parliament any longer to continue the restraints which
had been imposed upon it. At this noble aera of our legislation
the true principles of civil society were not only understood in
theory, but practically established ; and, in the words of an
ingenious writer, " by the expulsion of a king who had violated
his oath, the doctrine of resistance, that ultimate resource of an
oppressed people, was confirmed beyond a doubt. By the ex-
clusion of a family hereditarily despotic, it was finally determined,
that nations are not the property of kings. The principles of
passive obedience, the divine and indefeasible right of kings —
in a word, the whole scaffolding of false and superstitious notions
by which the royal authority had till then been supported, fell to
the ground; and in the room of it were substituted the more solid
and durable foundations of the love of order, and a sense of the
necessity of civil government among mankind."

The building used by the House of Commons for their sittings,

1 84 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

joins to the south-east angle of Westminster Hall, and was
formerly a part of the old palace. This being a free chapel,
was included in the statute of ist Edward VI. and fell into the
king's hands, and was by him assigned for the sitting of the
representatives of the people ; who, previous to that time, had
used the chapter-house belonging to the Abbey of Westminster.
— STRYPE, book vi. p. 54.

" It is said to have been originally erected by King Stephen,
and was rebuilt by Edward III.: but for the former of these
facts no ancient authority has been produced ; nor has Hatton,
who, in his New View of London, p. 629, has asserted, that
it was a chapel founded by King Stephen, anno 1141, and new
built by Edward III. 1347, given any reference to support his
assertion : as, however, he has so precisely mentioned the year,
it cannot be supposed, that he affirmed it without sufficient
warrant ; and it is undoubtedly true, that those who of late
years have had occasion to mention this building, have (it is
believed, without a single exception), universally acquiesced in
the idea, that the original edifice was erected by him. On better
evidence, it is, however, known to have been existing as early
as the time of King John ; who, in the seventh year of his reign,
1206, granted to Baldwin de London, clerk of his exchequer,
the chapelship of St. Stephen's, at Westminster, &c. At that
time, therefore, or before it had been already dedicated to St.
Stephen, it was probably intended as a chapel for the palace,
instead of a small one used by Edward the Confessor, which
occupied a part of the spot where Cotton House afterwards
stood ; but which might have been thought, or found too small
or inelegant to suit with a royal residence, of which the present

HOUSE OF COMMONS 185

Westminster Hall was intended but as one room. That there
was a chapel in use here before the erection of this, is clear,
as Hugo Flory was, in the time of William Rufus, confirmed
abbot of Canterbury in the king's chapel at Westminster. As
a chapel to the palace, and therefore to be maintained at the
king's expence from time to time, it does not appear to have
originally had any endowment ; neither does there seem to have
been any kind of property belonging to it till the time of its
refoundation, or, more properly, its first foundation, and endow-
ment by Edward III.

" Originally in this country, Parliament was in fact nothing
more than a great council ;* nor was it till the seventeenth year
of King John, A. D. 1215, that any traces of its constitution,
as it now exists, have been found.

" Sir William Blackstone says, that towards the end of the
reign of Henry III. we find the first record of any writ for sum-
moning knights, citizens, and burgesses to Parliament ; but in
another place he is more particular, and affirms, this constitu-

* Although the king is alone invested with the power of summoning Parliament, yet
he must do this at least once in three years, ibth Ch. II. This obligation upon the king
was insisted upon so early as the time of Alfred, who, in compliance with the national
wish, ordained that the Wittenagemot should meet every year. It is true, that, in the
early periods of our history, this assembly of the people was usually called for the
purpose of assisting the king with their advice on occasions of great moment or
emergency. The first of which we have any authentic account, is the public council
summoned by Belinus, after he had defeated his brother Brennus : — Convocavtt omnes
regni proceros intra Eboracwn consilio eorum tractaturus quid de rege Dacorum
facer et?

Brute advised with the majores natu about matter of peace with Pandrasus.

The magnates Britannia advised King Octavius to bestow his daughter and crown

1 86 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

tion has subsisted, in fact, at least from the year 1266, 49th
Henry III.

" Sir Edward Coke has remarked, that anciently both houses
sat together ; and this appears to have been the case at least
so late as 6th Edward III. The surest mark of the time of the
division of the two houses, is, as he says, when the House of
Commons at first had a continual speaker, as at this day. After
the division, he adds, the commons sat in the chapter-house of
the abbot of Westminster ; citing as his authority, the Parliament
roll of the 5<Dth Edward III. no. 8; and which, consequently,
proves the division to have taken place before this date.

" Sir William Blackstone says, that, in the reign of Edward III.
the Parliament is supposed, most probably, to have assumed its
present form, by a separation of the commons from the lords ;

upon Maximinian, a Roman senator, for confirmation of peace between the Britons and
Romans.

King Ethelred, by the counsel of his primates, made peace with the Danes, and gave
them a yearly tribute pro bono pads.

A second and third peace was made with the Danes by the same king and the
senate of England, rex et senatus Anglorum.

In the year 1188, Richard I. made a peace with the king of France, prasentibus
episcopis et magnatibus utriusque regni. — HARDEN, p. 765 ; MATT. PARIS, p. 1 56, 50.

Anno 1 201, between King John and France it was agreed, if either king did break
the peace, his barons should be absolved of their fealty.

In the year 1217, a peace was made between Henry II. and Lewis of France, by
advice of their counsellors, &c.

The peace between England and Scotland, 2d Ed. III. was concluded by the Parlia-
ment at Northampton.

The matter of peace between England and France was proposed to the Parliament
5th Ed. III. Rot. Parl. nu. 2. So in I7th Ed. III. Rot. ParL nu. 7. &c.

Where a cause of the Parliament is declared to be concerning the truce in Britain,
nu. 9. it is said, that as the king attempted not war without the Parliament's assent, so
without the same he would conclude no peace : whereupon the lords and commons

HOUSE OF COMMONS 187

and that the statute for defining and ascertaining treasons was
one of the first productions of this new-modelled assembly, and
the translation of the law proceedings from French into Latin,
another. The statute of treasons was passed 2oth Edward III.
and that for the translation of law proceedings into Latin, in the
3&th year of the same king.

" Inconvenience in the despatch of public business must, no
doubt, have been found from the distance, so long as the
commons continued to sit in the chapter-house of Westminster
Abbey : no wonder, therefore, a building so conveniently situated
as the present House of Commons, should have been thought
of for that purpose. In what manner it was at first fitted up,

severally gave their advice, that it was good to pursue the peace. The like consultation
in l8th Ed. III. Rot. Parl. nu. 6 ; 22d Ed. III. nu. 2 ; 28th Ed. HI. nu. 2.

The commons, in the matter of the peace with France, do agree to the order of the
king and his nobles, 28th Ed. III. Rot. Parl. nu. 58 ; 2gth Ed. III. ib. nu. 5. 9.

Peace with the Scots denied by the lords and commons, 42d Ed. III. Rot. Parl.
nu. 7.

Peace with France treated on, 43d Ed. III. Rot. Parl. nu. I. 2 ; 7th Ri. II. ib. nu. 4.
16. 17. 18 ; I3th Ri. II. Rot. Parl. nu. I ; I4th Ri. II. ib. nu. I ; i6th Ri. II. ib. nu. I ;
17th Ri. II. ib. nu. I ; 6th Hen. IV. ib. nu. 2 ; 8th Hen. IV. ib. nu. 10 ; 3d Hen. V. ib.
nu. 14 ; 4th Hen. V. ib. nu. 3 ; I4th Hen. VI. ib. nu. i ; 23d Hen. VI. ib. nu. 23. 24 ;
and many others of the like nature in our records and histories.

In France, the first Parliaments used to treat of peace ; and both there and in other
nations, in their public councils, matters of peace and war were generally debated and
advised upon, as being of so great weight and consequence to all men, that it was held
proper for such councils.

This was done by Belinus, Brute, Cassivelaune, Arviragus, Vortigern, Aurelius,
Ambrosius, Arthur, and generally by all the British, Saxon, Danish, Norman, and other
kings of this nation, and of all other countries.

Consultations in Parliament touching the wars with Scotland and other parts, are in
the rolls before cited, and in 6th Ed. III. Rot. Parl. nu. 6; ;oth Ed. III. nu. 2; ist
Hen. IV. nu. 81 ; 8th Hen. IV. nu. 2 ; I7th Ri. II. nu. I ; 1st Hen. V. nu. 9.

1 88 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

is no where disclosed ; but it is supposed, that the paintings, if
at that time uncovered and exposed to view, were on that
occasion wainscoted up ; for in the seal for the Court of Common
Bench at Westminster 1 648, that for the Common Pleas for the
county palatine of Lancaster 1648, the Parliament seal 1649,
and the Dunbar medal 1650, the walls are represented with a
plain wainscoting. However, it appears, that, about the year
1651, the walls were covered with tapestry hangings, probably
to conceal this wainscoting : for they are so given in the per-
spective view of the House of Commons, on the back of the
great seal of the commonwealth of England, 1651 ; and in
this manner they continued to be decorated down to the time
of Queen Anne, in whose reign Sir Christopher Wren was
employed to repair the building, and fit up its inside with
galleries.

"In the year 1800, the number of members of the House of
Commons being increased from 558 to 658, in consequence of
the act of Parliament for uniting the two kingdoms of Great
Britain and Ireland, the building itself was thought too small
for their reception. The original side walls, between the piers,
were three feet thick; and it was therefore found, that by
erecting on the same foundation, but so as to range with the
external extremity of the old, other walls of less dimensions,
as being only one foot thick, the building might be considerably
enlarged internally, and sufficient room be obtained ; and this
plan was accordingly determined on.

" On removing the wainscoting, as a preparatory step to take
down these walls, a discovery was made, of which no one had
any suspicion ; namely, that the stone walls had been originally

e
S

HOUSE OF COMMONS 189

painted with a variety of subjects, and that many of them were
still in such a perfect state as to admit of their being copied and
engraven.

" To describe the building more particularly, it must be said,
that it is of an oblong shape, and measures about ninety feet
in length by about thirty in width, internal measure ; having
externally at each corner an octagonal tower. It consists of five
windows on each side, about twelve feet six inches wide ; and
between each a pier of about five feet six inches in width, formed
on the outside into a flying buttress, nearly three feet six inches
thick, and extending in the whole about ten feet from the wall
of the building. It contained likewise two stories ; the height
of the upper story (now the House of Commons), from the
floor to the top of the battlement of the cornice, just under the
springing of the roof, was about forty-two feet ; and the height
of the under chapel, before the ground was raised, was about
twenty feet, making together sixty-two feet. In the lower, which
was on the same level with the pavement of the street, was
formerly the chapel of St. Mary in the Vaults ; but part of it has
been inclosed, to contain a stove for warming the House of
Commons above, part is used for other immaterial purposes, and
the greater part of it now constitutes the speaker's state dining-
room.

" Of this very beautiful and magnificent building it is not too
much to say, that no edifice existing at the time of its erection,
in any part of the world, can, in any degree, be compared with
it ; nor is it supposed, that any of later times can be produced
at all equal to it in point of splendour of decoration ; unless,
indeed, it may be the church of St. Peter, at Rome. The church

i9o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

of Santa Sophia, at Constantinople, now a Turkish mosque, and
therefore scarcely accessible, is commended (and deservedly,
as it seems from the representations of Grelot, who procured
admission at the risk of his life, and whose fidelity has been well
attested,) for its internal beauty and splendour, arising from the
ornaments in mosaic on its walls ; but it cannot, it is imagined,
be justly deemed, in this respect, a rival to the chapel of St.
Stephen."

The House of Commons is plainly and neatly fitted up, and
accommodated with galleries, supported by slender iron pillars,
adorned with Corinthian capitals and sconces ; from the middle
of the ceiling hangs a handsome branch or lustre. At the upper
end, the speaker is placed upon a raised seat, ornamented behind
with Corinthian columns, and the imperial arms, carved and
placed on a pediment ; before him is a table, at which the clerk
and his assistants sit. Just below the chair, and on each side,
as well below as in the galleries, the members seat themselves
promiscuously. The speaker and clerks always wear gowns in
the house, as also the professors of the law in term time ; but
no other of the members wear robes, except the four representa-
tives for the city of London, who, the first day of every new
Parliament, are dressed in scarlet gowns, and sit on the right
hand of the chair, next to the speaker.

The Parliament sits upon any day except on Sundays, or other
high festivals, or fast days, when it is not usual to assemble,
unless upon the most urgent occasions : but though the speaker
always adjourns the house to nine o'clock of the morning of the
day when they agree to meet again, the house seldom meets
before noon.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

191

This house has concurrent power with the lords in all matters
of legislation, and no law can be made without their united
consent. *

* The forms of passing acts of Parliament have varied at different periods. About
the year 1400, it appears from the rolls, that most of the laws were then preferred to the
king by way of petition, and the lords, at the sitting down of their house, appointed
receivers and triers of petitions ; but in those times, after the petitions were received,
and had passed both houses, they were ingrossed by the clerk into one roll, and so
presented to the king. After the end of the Parliament, all those acts which the king
had assented unto, and were to be published as statutes, were extracted into another
roll, and transcripts made of them under the great seal of England, and sent to every
sheriff, to be proclaimed in their several counties, printing being not then invented.

But these forms of passing bills in Parliament were altered in King Henry the
Seventh's time, when petitions were so many and of such length, that they could not
well be comprehended in one roll : then every petition was changed into the form of an
act, and made in English (which before was in French or in Latin), and presented by
itself; and if the king did not assent unto it, it was laid aside, and not entered upon the
statute roll : and since printing came up, there hath been no use of any such second
roll, to collect the acts to which the king had assented, nor of making any such tran-
scripts, for the sheriff to publish them, the print supplying that turn.

For the principal information which relates to St. Stephen's Chapel, we acknowledge
ourselves indebted to Mr. Smith's Antiquities of the City of Westminster; a work
which every man who feels an interest in the history of the arts, and their early intro-
duction and progress in this island, will peruse with pleasure and satisfaction. To this
work we beg to refer such of our readers as may be desirous of obtaining more informa-
tion respecting the antiquities of St. Stephen's Chapel, and the curious remains of
ancient painting in oil, and of architecture (which were unexpectedly discovered upon
its late alteration), than the design or limits of this work will permit us to extract. We
shall only at present add a short account given in the Gentleman's Magazine about the
time of the discovery being made.

" The Gothic pillars, the finished scroll-work, and the laboured carving, are in good
preservation ; but what is more observable is, that the paintings which fill the interstices,
having been protected from the action of the air for so many centuries, are in many
parts as fresh and vivid as if they could only boast a twelvemonth's date. In the right
hand corner, behind the speaker's chair, and about five feet from the ground, there is
a virgin and child, with Joseph bending over them, tolerably executed in colour ; and
Edward III. and his queen and suit, making their offerings. Under them, in six niches,

192

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

are as many knights in armour, with their tabards of arms ; and in each angle an
acolyte, holding a taper. Adjoining this, and on the same level, are two angels, their
heads reclining on the shoulders, and holding each, extended before, a piece of drapery
or mantle, charged with various devices or armorial bearings ; their wings composed of
peacock's feathers, very highly finished, and the green and gold, in general, as lively as
if newly laid on. The gilding of the cornices, which are very richly decorated, is
equally fresh. On each side of the altar are pictures of the Nativity, Preservation in
the Temple, Marriage at Cana, and a fourth, in which the devil is introduced coming
through the air, perhaps representing the Temptation. Adjoining, on the south wall,
are three beautiful stone stalls, with rich flowered arches ; and west of them, a narrower
one, reaching below them. Over the figures, on each side, on an inverted frieze, are
arms of the royal family and nobility, in eighteen shields, between which are grotesque
figures of men and animals. On the opposite side of the chapel, are figures of men in
complete armour, with inscriptions under them, two of which are legible, "Eustace"
and " Mercure'' in black-letter characters. The interior roof is enriched with the most
laboured minutiae of ornament ; but not having been covered like the lower parts, offers
a very faint idea of the superb finishing and expensive decoration of this beautiful
building."— GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE.

Having brought the history of our constitution down to the Revolution, it is pro-
posed to conclude the subject, when, in the progress of our plan, we have to notice the
HOUSE OF LORDS.

193

THE COURT OF CHANCERY

LINCOLN'S INN HALL

TH E Court of Chancery is represented in the plate during the
sittings in vacation, which are held here by permission of
the honourable society. This hall, which is a fine Gothic
structure, is sixty- two feet long by thirty-two feet wide. It was
built in the time of Henry VII. about the year 1506 : the lantern
was added anno 1602. It is a noble, well-proportioned room : at
the upper end is a painting by Hogarth, which represents St. Paul
preaching before Felix.

The windows and panels are ornamented with the arms of the
several law dignitaries and others who have been eminent mem-
bers of the society of Lincoln's Inn.

In term-time, the business of this court is transacted in the
Court of Chancery at Westminster Hall. The lord high chancel-
lor is the sole judge. It has its name Chancery, " Cancellaria"
from the judge, or cancellarius, who presides. It is curious to
observe the different etymologies which have been assigned to
this word. It was objected to Carinus (the Roman emperor,
A.D. 384), that he made one of his door-keepers (cancellarius)
governor of the city ; and Gibbon shrewdly observes, that this

i94 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

word, so humble in its original, has, by a singular fortune, rose
into the title of the first great office of state in the monarchies
of Europe. See also Casauban, and Salmasius, ad Hist. August,
p. 253. Some of the learned are of opinion, that this court
derived its name from the cross bars of iron or wood, called by
the Romans cancelli, with which it was formerly inclosed, to
prevent the officers being incommoded by the crowding of the
people. Sir Edward Coke (4 Inst. 83.) derives it a cancellando,
from cancelling the king's patents granted contrary to law. Sir
W. Blackstone observes, that the office was certainly known in
the courts of the Roman emperors, and seems originally to have
signified a chief scribe or secretary. We confess ourselves ignor-
ant of the authorities from which this conclusion is drawn. The
office of prtetor may be supposed to form a very adequate model
of our lord high chancellor ; but that office differed widely from a
scribe or secretary, and certainly did not at all assimilate with that
of the Roman cancellarius.

The Romans, for a considerable period, knew no other justice
but what consisted in a literal and inflexible administration of
their few primary laws. At length they became sensible, that
the law, judging only by general principles, required sometimes
to be moderated in particular cases, by that equity which springs
from the variety and diversity of circumstances : it was therefore
they created praetors, to whom was assigned the cognizance of
certain actions condemned by the law, but favoured by equity,
such as entire restitutions, exceptions of deceit, of fear, of minority,
suits concerning wills, substitution, &c.

By the law Pretoria, they were to supply and correct the laws.
— VARRO, lib. v. de Ling. Lat.

COURT OF CHANCERY 195

By the law Cornelia, they were punishable if they did not judge
according to equity. — CICERO, Phil. ii.

In the empire it was said to the chancellor, " Fasces tibi
judicium parent, et dum jussa pratoriancz sedis portare crederis,
ipsam quodammodo potestatem reverendus assumis."

And again, " Persona tua refugium sit oppresso, infirmo defensio,
presidium aliqua calamitate concluso ; sic enint proprie nostros
cancellos agitis, si l&sorum impia claustra solvatis." — SPELMAN'S
Gloss, p. 126, in which he cites Cassiodorus (lib. xii. formul. i.)
who wrote about twelve hundred years ago.

From the Roman empire it passed to the Roman church, and
when the modern kingdoms and principalities of Europe were
established upon the ruins of the empire, almost every state pre-
served this office ; and even subjects that had jura regalia, had
likewise their chanceries and chancellors. The counties palatine
in England have them to this day, and the lords marchers had
them before the statute of Wales, ayth Henry VIII.

Neither can we subscribe to the opinion of Sir W. Blackstone,
who, speaking of the reigns of Edward I. and Henry II. says,
that " in these early times, the chief juridical employment of the
chancellor must have been in devising new writs directed to the
courts of common law, to give remedy in cases where none was
before administered."

In answer to this it has been well observed, that the antiquity
and dignity of the persons and office of chancellor, leave us no
ground to suppose that the Chancery was merely an officina, to
seal writs and commissions for the law courts to proceed upon.
In proof of which it is urged, that Wilsinus was chancellor to
King Athelstan ; that Turketullus was chancellor to King Edward

1 96 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the Elder, and to King Edmund and Edred (vide INGULPHUS) ;
Adulphus to King Edgar ; Alsius, abbot of Ely, to King Ethel-
dred ; that King Alfred had a Court of Chancery, 4 Inst. out of
the Mirror, cap. i. sec. 3. and cap. 5. who saith, that it was
ordained by King Alfred in Parliament, that every man should
have a writ remedial out of the King's Chancery : which, it may
be, the author (Andrew Horn) meant of such a course to send for
the parties as was then used ; for if he meant writs under seals,
as they issued out of the Chancery in King Edward the Second's
time, when he wrote, clearly he was mistaken ; for there could be
no writs under seals in King Alfred's days, neither he nor any of
the former Saxon kings using any, for seals came in with the
Normans. The Saxon kings' manner was, to subscribe their
names and crosses to charters (INGULPHUS, CAMDEN, 444, SELDEN,
Titles of Honour, 785). Some have said, that King Edward the
Confessor used a seal, and that his chancellor had the custody of
it ; but that he learned in Normandy, having lived long there
before he was king : and then it must necessarily follow, that
the former kings having no seals, there was some other use
of a chancellor and of a Court of Chancery in those days, if
there were a Chancery (which cannot be shewn) distinct from
the Aula Regis, or King's Court, where the chief justice of
England, the chancellor, and the prelates and earls, were the
judges.

About the reign of Edward III. the separate jurisdiction of the
Chancery seems to have been better understood and ascertained.
The introduction of uses of land, and their being considered as.
fiduciary trusts, together with the writ of subpoena, returnable
only in this court, to make the feoffee to uses accountable to his

COURT OF CHANCERY 197

cestuy que use; and the unanimous concurrence of the judges,
that suits pro lasione fidei, could not be entertained in the ecclesi-
astical courts, as spiritual offences against conscience, contributed
to enlarge the business of the Court of Chancery in an amazing
degree. At the same time, there does not appear to have been
any regular judicial system prevailing, upon which its decisions
were grounded, no lawyer having sat in this court from 1372 to
the promotion of Sir Thomas More* by King Henry VIII. in
1530; after which the great seal was indiscriminately committed
to the custody of lawyers, courtiers, or churchmen, till Serjeant
Pickering was made lord keeper, in 1592 ; from which time to the
present the Court of Chancery has always been filled by a lawyer,
excepting the interval from 1621 to 1625, when the seal was en-
trusted to Dr. Williams, then dean of Westminster, but afterwards
bishop of Lincoln, who had been chaplain to Lord Ellesmere f
when chancellor. It was during the chancellorship of the latter
the dispute arose with Sir Edward Coke, chief justice, respecting
the jurisdiction of the courts of law and equity, which the king

* When the wife and children of Sir Thomas More urged him to make more money
of his office, what was the noble reply ? " Let me alone, your reputation and my life are
concerned ; you will be rich in the blessing of God and man." The authors who have
written his life, inform us, that a nobleman who had a cause depending in Chancery,
presented him with two silver flasks of exquisite workmanship. Sir Thomas sent for his
butler, and said to him, " Carry that man into my cellar, and fill his two flasks with my
best wine. — Friend," said he, turning to the person who brought them, " tell your master,
that I beg he will not spare my wine if he likes it."

t Lord Ellesmere is remarked for having introduced great brevity in the arguments
of counsel, "and affecting matter rather than affectation of words, tied the same to
"laconical brevity ; an honour to the court of justice, to be swayed rather by ponderous
" reasons, than by fluent and deceitful speeches."

198 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

determined in favour of the Court of Chancery, and Sir Edward
Coke submitted, if that may be called submission which amounted
merely to a declaration reluctantly made to the king in council,
that when the case happened he would do his duty.

To Lord Ellesmere succeeded Lord Bacon, who reduced the
practice of this court into a more regular system. His successors
during the reign of Charles I. made little improvement upon his
plan ; and even after the restoration the seal was committed to
the Earl of Clarendon, who had withdrawn from the practice of a
lawyer near twenty years, and afterwards to the Earl of Shaftes-
bury, who had never been in practice at all. Sir Hineage Finch,
who succeeded in 1673, and afterwards became Earl of Notting-
ham, was a man of the greatest abilities and integrity : in the
course of nine years he built up a system of jurisprudence and
jurisdiction upon wide and rational foundations, which have been
extended and improved by many great men who have since pre-
sided in Chancery ; among these none has shone with a lustre
superior to Lord Hardwicke.* Posterity will do ample justice

* This great man, who was born at Dover, owed his fortune to his own merit, which,
from a low beginning, led him to the high office of chancellor through all the inter-
mediate honours of the law and magistracy. Notwithstanding the importance and
multiplicity of his occupations, he contrived to save an hour or two each day, and these
hours thus stolen he employed in reading some favourite author. In this manner did he,
in the space of three years, peruse the whole history of Thuanus, inserting in the margin
observations upon such parts as appeared to him most interesting : this study was a
recreation to him, though it would have been a laborious occupation for weaker heads.
" I exist all day for the whole kingdom," said he to a confident of his amusements, " it is
but just that the whole kingdom should grant me at least an hour, during which I may
exist for myself." Who is ignorant of the works of More, Bacon, and Clarendon ? the
agreeableness, the extent, and depth of which are such, that one would imagine the
authors had been absolute masters of uncontrolled leisure.

COURT OF CHANCERY 199

to the integrity, abilities, industry, and worth of those who have
succeeded him ; but we are perhaps too near the times in which
some of them have lived, to admit the impartial voice of history ;
and any attempt to draw the character of our present chancellor
would not only be liable to the same objection, but possibly might
induce our readers to suspect, that the delineations of truth had
been traced with the pencil of flattery.

" Seculum aliud non tremens expectat."

The office of chancellor is, by 5th Eliz. c. 18. declared to be
the same as that of lord keeper, and is created merely by delivery
of the great seal into his custody, whereby he becomes, without
writ or patent, an officer of the greatest weight and power of any
now subsisting in the kingdom, and superior in point of prece-
dency to every temporal lord. He is a privy counsellor by his
office, and, according to the Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, prolo-
cutor of the House of Lords by prescription. To him belongs
the appointment of all justices of the peace throughout the king-
dom. He is keeper of the king's conscience, visitor in right of
the king of all hospitals and colleges of the king's foundation,
and patron of all the king's livings under 2O/. per annum in the
king's books. He is the guardian of all infants, idiots, and
lunatics, and has the general superintendence of all charitable
uses in the kingdom : and all this over and above the vast and
extensive jurisdiction which he exercises in his judicial capacity
in the Court of Chancery, wherein, as in the Exchequer, there
are two distinct tribunals ; the one being a court of common law,
the other a court of equity. But if any cause comes to issue in
this court, that is, if any fact be disputed between the parties,

2oo THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the chancellor cannot try it, having no power to summon a jury,
but must deliver the record proprid manu into the King's Bench.
In this legal court is likewise kept the Officina Justitia, out of
which do issue all original writs that pass the great seal, and all
commissions of charitable uses, sewers, bankruptcy, idiotcy, lunacy,
and the like. In fact, the lord chancellor of England is, in many
respects, what the praetor was at Rome ; but he can neither touch
acts of Parliament nor the established practice of other courts,
much less reverse the judgments already passed in these latter,
as the Roman praetors sometimes used to do in regard to their
predecessors in office, and sometimes also in regard to their own.

The kind of process that has, in the course of time, been
established in the Court of Chancery, is as follows : — After a
petition is received by the court, the person sued is served with
a writ of subpoena, to command his appearance. If he does not
appear, an attachment is issued against him ; if a non inventus is
returned, a proclamation goes forth against him ; then a commis-
sion of rebellion is issued, for apprehending him and bringing
him to the Fleet prison. If the person sued stands farther in
contempt, a serjeant at arms is to be sent out to take him ; and
if he cannot be taken, a sequestration of his land may be obtained
till he appears. Such is the power which the Court of Chancery,
as a court of equity, hath gradually acquired, to compel appear-
ance before it. In regard to the execution of its decrees, it seems
to be held as a maxim, that this court cannot bind the estate, but
only the person.

From this court of equity an appeal lies to the House of
Lords. But there are these differences between appeals from a
court of equity, and writs of error from a court of law :

COURT OF CHANCERY 201

1. That the former may be brought upon any interlocutory
matter ; the latter upon nothing but only a definitive judgment.

2. That, on writs of error, the House of Lords pronounces the
judgment ; on appeals, it gives direction to the court below to
rectify its own decree.

The chancellors are usually raised to the dignity of a peerage.*
This employment is a sort of seminary to the House of Lords,
which does them honour by supplying them with members of
tried merit ; and these titles, whilst they perpetuate the memory
of worth, ability, and services, reflect on those to whom they are
granted, and on their descendants, a lustre infinitely superior to
that which they might acquire from the most remote genealogies.

Indeed, this high office is generally the reward of merit. If
court favour sometimes interferes in the disposal, it has of late
years only gone the length of selecting its object from amongst
men of the most consummate knowledge of the law, of the
greatest practice in its several departments, or of the most extra-
ordinary talents for eloquence. It exacts from the person
invested with it, a continual application and labour : public and
private audiences, the business attendant on keeping the great
seal, the presiding as speaker in the House of Lords, assisting
at the Privy Council, and at all the public ceremonies and
formalities ; the discussion and examination of appeals ; the
attention to political affairs as a statesman, and as a principal
member of administration : such are the duties which, over and
above the vast and important judicial functions of his office, fill

* The present chancellor was Sir John Scott, now Lord Eldon.

202 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

in continued succession every moment of a chancellor's life. If
the situation be high, enviable, and lucrative, it requires at least
the sacrifice of health, time, the inferior luxuries of social enjoy-
ment, and almost of friendly relaxation. It is a life of labour
and discipline, and perpetually claims from its possessor an
arduous exertion of the greatest abilities.

203

COUKT OF COMMON PLEAS

THIS court is situated about the middle of Westminster
Hall. It is one of the four great courts of the kingdom,
and, as we before noticed, was the first which was sepa-
rated from the Aula Regis, and rendered stationary.

It is so called, because in this court are tried the usual or
common pleas, which include all cases whatsoever of a civil
nature between subject and subject. After this court was fixed
at Westminster, so many cases were brought before it, that the
king found it necessary, instead of three, to constitute six judges,
who sat in two places. King James I. appointed only five ; but
at present the number is reduced to four, and they sit together
in Westminster Hall. It is a court of record, and styled by
Sir Edward Coke, "the lock and key of the common /aw," 4 Inst.
99 ; for herein only can real actions be brought. The Court of
King's Bench has a concurrent jurisdiction in most personal
actions ; a writ of error lies from this court by way of appeal
to the Court of King's Bench.

Each of the courts is adorned with a piece of tapestry, in
the middle of which are the arms of England : but they are
neither of them striking in their decorations ; they are rather
reduced to depend upon their intrinsic dignity for the admira-
tion which they excite, particularly when visited by foreigners.

204 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

" I have seen," says an intelligent French writer with some
naivete", " when there was a great crowd, young persons with
frocks as dirty as those who walk the streets of London, fill
two or three vacant places close to the lord chief justice ! "

The judges, whilst they sit upon the bench, have presented to
them every day large nosegays, and these supply the place of the
perquisites which these magistrates receive in other countries.
In the parliaments of France, under the ancient government,
nosegays were in the same manner distributed to the judges, and
this distribution was called the giving of roses. — See the HISTORY
OF THE PARLIAMENT.

The court is represented in the plate as employed in the
examination of bail. The Israelite, with his gold-lace coat, that
would " burn for the money" is well contrasted with his round-
bellied co-bail.

How like a fawning publican he looks ! SHAKSPEARE.

There is a considerable degree of spirit and variety in the
attitudes of the whole assembly, which induces a belief, that
something interesting engages its attention.

QQ ^

ofc

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205

COUKT OF KING'S BENCH

IS situate in the south-east corner of Westminster Hall,
opposite the Court of Chancery. It is the supreme
common law court in England, and is so called because
the king formerly sat there in person : indeed, in all the courts
the king is supposed (in contemplation of law) to be always
present. This court consists of a chief justice and three puisne
judges. After the dissolution of the Aula Regis, King Edward I.
frequently sat in this court ; and in later times, James I. who
was reminded by the chief justice, that he ought not even to
deliver an opinion.

The, jurisdiction of this court is very high. It keeps other
courts within their respective bounds, and may either remove
their proceedings, or prohibit their progress : it controuls magis-
trates and others, and protects the liberties of the people by
summary interposition. It has cognizance of both criminal and
civil causes, in all actions of trespass or injuries committed vi et
armis, actions for forgeries of deeds, maintenance, conspiracy,
deceit, and in all actions upon the case whatsoever. By means
of a fiction, it now holds plea of all personal actions. It is like-
wise a court of appeal, into which may be removed, by writ
of error, the determinations of all the other courts of record

206 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

in England, and also from the Court of King's Bench in Ireland.
Writs of error are usually brought in the House of Lords, against
any judgments of this court.

One cannot dismiss this subject without observing upon the
mildness introduced in the administration of criminal justice in
this kingdom above all others : indeed, there have been writers
of the first eminence, who, more sensible of the necessity of
public order, than alive to the feelings of humanity, do not
hesitate to say, that too many delinquents escape with impunity.
Beyond that respect which is necessary to strengthen the feeble-
ness of law, there is nothing in our criminal tribunals to excite a
fear in the bosom of innocence : they are neither wrapt up in
mystery, nor rendered more formidable by secrecy or darkness :
every thing is open to the public ; every form of procedure,
every circumstance tends to the acquittal of a delinquent ; even
the prejudices of mankind are admitted in his favour, and he
sees in the persons who are to determine his case by their
verdict, those whom a similarity of rank and circumstances
might engage to take an interest in his fate.

" Valeant omnia ad salutem innocentium" said Cicero, ''ad
opem innoccntium, ad auxilium calamitosorum ; in periculum vero
et permciem repudientur. All circumstances should be turned to
the preservation of the innocent, to the assistance of the un-
fortunate ; but every thing that contributes to his danger and
prejudice, should be avoided."

Machiavel, on the other hand, affirms, " That the excess of
severity falls only upon a few individuals ; but an excess of com-
passion exposes all the innocent to those violences which the law
ought to prevent"

te

03

COURT OF EXCHEQUER 207

The voice of nature cries out, " RATHER SAVE TWENTY GUILTY

PERSONS, THAN PUT ONE INNOCENT MAN TO DEATH."

The plate represents the chief justice sitting at Nisi Prius,
and the counsel examining a witness. It is altogether a very
exact representation of the objects which it professes to exhibit.

COUET OF EXCHEQUEK

THE plate represents this court during a trial before the
chief baron, in the sittings after term. It is not the
imaginary representation of a painter, but is almost a
fac-simile, taken at the trial of a cause a short time since. This
court, in its appearance, has little to recommend it ; the archi-
tecture is mean, and the place altogether little suited to its
present dignified employment.

The Court of Exchequer, which is also one of the four great
courts of the kingdom, is held in a room contiguous to the
north-west corner of Westminster Hall, and is so named from
a chequered cloth which anciently covered the table where the
judges or chief officers sat. This court was first erected by
William the Conqueror, for the trial of all causes relating to
the revenues of the crown \ and in the same court there are
now also tried matters of equity between subject and subject.

The judges of this court are, the lord chief baron of the
Exchequer, and three other judges, called barons of the Ex-

2o8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

chequer. There is also the cursitor baron of the Exchequer,
who administers the oath to the sheriffs, under-sheriffs, bailiffs,
searchers, surveyors, &c. of the Customhouse ; but is no judge.
When at any time the barons are of different opinions concerning
the decision of any cause, they call to their assistance the chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, who decides in favour of one of the
parties by his casting vote.

Long after the conquest, there sat in the Exchequer both
spiritual and temporal barons ; whence, in later times, those who
sat there, though they were not peers, were styled barons. By
their original constitution, according to Sir W. Blackstone, the
jurisdiction of the several courts was entirely separate and dis-
tinct : the Common Pleas to decide all controversies between
subject and subject ; the King's Bench to correct all crimes and
misdemeanors that amount to a breach of the peace ; and the
Exchequer to adjust and recover the king's revenue : but as by a
fiction almost all sorts of civil actions may be brought in the
King's Bench, in like manner, by another fiction, all kinds of
personal actions may be prosecuted in the Court of Exchequer.

In this court, on the equity side, the clergy have long been
used to exhibit their bills for the non-payment of tithes, but the
Court of Chancery has of late years obtained a large share in
this business.

An appeal from the equity side of this court lies immediately
to the House of Peers ; but from the common law side, in
pursuance of the statute 3ist Edward III. cap. 12. a writ of
error must be first brought into the Court of Exchequer
Chamber, and from their determination there lies, in the dernier
ressort, a writ of error to the House of Lords.

2O9

COVEN T-GABDEN MARKET

THE plate represents Covent-Garden Market during the
bustle of an election for Westminster ; the hustings are
erected in the front of the church of St. Paul, which
was built about the year 1650, as a chapel of ease to St. Martin's
in the Fields. In 1645 the precinct of Covent-Garden was
separated from St. Martin's, and constituted an independent
parish; which was confirmed after the restoration in 1660, by
the appellation of St. Paul's, Covent-Garden, when the patronage
was vested in the Earl of Bedford : and as it escaped the fire
in 1666, which did not reach so far, it continued as it came from
the hands of its great architect, Inigo Jones, till the year 1795-6,
when it was considerably injured by fire, but was immediately
repaired. It is in the form of a market-house, with a portico
at both ends. The portico has no ornaments but the extremities
of the joists, supporting the roof, which jut out in the manner
of a pediment. The beams under this pediment form a hori-
zontal roof, supported by columns of the Doric order.* This

* In Itali4 Palladio, e Jones in Inghilterra, furono i piu severi imitator! degli antichi
architetti come nella maesta e nella solidita della fabriche, cosi ancora nella simplicita e
nella sobrieta degli ornament!. — P. FRISI, Essay on Architecture.

In Italy Palladio, and Jones in England, were the most exact imitators of the
ancient architects, as well in the majesty and solidity of the buildings, as in the simpli-
city, sobriety, and frugality of the ornaments.

210 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

construction, as simple as it is certainly well imagined, by
reducing the art to its original, unites all the elements of it.

The English do not seem to have discovered any impatience
to avail themselves of those noble models by which a taste for
the Grecian and Roman architecture was revived upon the
continent during the sixteenth century ; on the contrary, they
seem to have persevered in an attachment to the Gothic manner,
and the first essays of our architects were little more than a
whimsical mixture of the ancient and modern taste. We seem
to be returning with more alacrity to the irregularities of the
most vitiated Gothic taste, or the progress of the new front to
the House of Lords would never have been tolerated under the
daily immediate observation of the individuals composing the two
first assemblies in Europe, who voted the funds that have been
expended upon this incongruous piece of architecture.

Covent-Garden received its name from having formerly been
a garden belonging to the abbot and monks of the Convent of
Westminster, whence it was called Convent-Garden, of which its
present name is a corruption. The fruit and vegetable market
certainly diminishes the beauty and effect of this place as a
square, but perhaps the world does not furnish an instance of
another metropolis supplied with these articles in equal good-
ness and profusion. It has been calculated that there are ten
thousand acres of ground in the neighbourhood of London
cultivated for vegetables, and about four thousand acres for
fruit. The sum paid at market for vegetables is stated at about
645,ooo/. and for fruit about 400, ooo/. which is retailed at an
average profit of about 200 per cent, making the amount paid

COVENT-GARDEN MARKET 211

for the supply of the metropolis in vegetables and fruit, more
than three millions sterling.

The view of the election is a very fair representation of the
septennial return of the majesty of the people. One of the
popular candidates appears to have already taken possession
of the hustings, and to be in the act of addressing the populace :
the pair of empty breeches held up just before him, may lead
us to suppose it has some allusion to a popular character now
no more :

A man, when once he's safely chose,

May laugh at all his furious foes,
Nor think of former evil :

Yet good has its attendant ill ;

A seat is no bad thing but still

A contest is the devil.

It has been customary at many late elections for Westminster,
to nominate some naval officer in the court interest ; and there-
fore the appearance of another candidate in a boat supported by
sailors, is appropriate, and the allusion pointed. The orator of
this party seems to have engaged arms and legs, body and soul,
in the service.

The limits of our miscellany will not admit of doing adequate
justice to the different groups in this picture. We shall only
observe, that Mr. Rowlandson appears to have been quite at
home. The architectural dignity of the church is well preserved
by Mr. Pugin ; who to be sure cannot help the appearance of
the steeple, which seems to rise upon the sharp ridge of the roof :
it is so in the original, and could not therefore be otherwise in
the copy,
i. — P

212

COVENT-GABDEN THEATKE

IT was our intention to have preceded this article with an
account of the stage, from its early introduction to the
present period ; but the first accounts we have, are involved
in so much obscurity, that it would be rather a matter of curiosity
than information, to pursue the enquiry : we have, therefore,
merely contented ourselves with giving an account of the
structure of this theatre, from the most authentic source we are
able, and for which we are indebted to the Dramatic Mirror,
by Gilliland.

In the year 1799, Mr. Harris expended 25,ooo/. in the entire
alteration of the interior and exterior parts of Covent-Garden
House, which rendered it a new theatre ; a title which it also
assumed when Mr. King was first deputy- manager of Drury-
Lane. The amphitheatre is entirely new, and contains three
circles of boxes and a spacious gallery : the form is that of a
truncated ellipse, or an egg flattened at one end ; the effect of
which upon the stage, and upon the sound (not always to be
determined by rules), is certainly good. The front of the stage
advances something more than the old one into the pit, and is in
a straight line. The pit is 40 feet wide and 38 in depth, contains
twenty seats, which are parallel to the orchestra, and holds six

CO VENT-GARDEN THEATRE 213

hundred and thirty-two persons. The first circle of boxes is
continued round the house.

The boxes are separated from each other by partitions, which
are low in front, rise behind, and are placed in a new and
commodious direction. They are lined and ceiled with wainscot,
but are not papered, for the advantage of sound : their fronts
project in a manner very accommodating to those who sit in the
first rows.

The second and third circles of boxes are continued round the
theatre, and differ from those below only in respect of their
height. They hold twelve hundred persons.

The interior of each circle is painted green, relieved with
fanciful borders. The fronts of the boxes are coloured in white
and gold, forming compartments, which have a delicate and
pleasing effect.

There are no columns or visible supporters to the boxes, it
being justly imagined that they intercepted the sight ; yet to
the people in the pit, those rows of boxes full of company,
having no apparent support, are apt to give an unpleasant
sensation.

The first, or two-shilling gallery, is 55 feet wide and 40 in
depth, contains twelve seats, which are so elevated as to give
a complete, uninterrupted view of the stage, and hold eight
hundred and twenty spectators.

The upper gallery is 55 feet wide and 25 feet in depth,
contains seven seats, and holds three hundred and sixty-one
persons.

The proscenium is composed of pilasters and columns of the
Corinthian order, fully enriched, having between them the stage-

2i4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

doors, over which are the balcony boxes. In the entablature to
the order is introduced the old motto, Veluti in speculum.

In Hart-street a very large building has been erected for
the scene-painters, scene-rooms, green-room, dressing-room, &c.
Through this building is a private entrance for the royal family
to the stage-box. The stage-door and box-office are also in an
additional building in Hart-street.

The whole of the avenues to the theatre have been much
altered and improved. The principal entrance is in Bow-street,
under an antique Doric portico, through a large and spacious
saloon, handsomely fitted up and warmed by stoves, leading to
the lower circle of boxes, and to a double staircase that leads to
the upper circles.

In consequence of the great expence attending the improve-
ments of this house, Mr. Harris was obliged to raise the prices
to a level with those taken by the Drury-Lane company. This
circumstance, added to the want of a shilling gallery, had so
prejudicial an effect in the first instance, that the performance on
the night of opening, September 17, 1792, was rendered one
scene of discontent and confusion, neither play nor farce being
properly finished.

Mr. Lewis assured the audience on this, that a one-shilling
gallery should as soon as possible be erected ; but that, without
the total ruin of the managers, it was utterly impossible to open
the theatre for less than the advanced prices. The opposition in
the course of two or three evenings entirely died away, and a
gallery, as promised, was shortly after erected.

The regulation and management of the boxes has for some
years devolved on Mr. James Brandon, and his brother John,

CO VENT-GARDEN THEATRE 215

two gentlemen who are remarkable for their attention to the
public, and ever ready to render each applicant for a box as
comfortable as the arrangement of their box-book will allow.
They particularly distinguished themselves by their impartiality
and justice to the public, when the boxes of Covent-Garden
were in great request during the zenith of Master Betty's
theatrical glory.

The principal performers of our English theatres are engaged
under an article for three or five years, but receive their salary
weekly. The minor performers are only engaged from season to
season, but receive their salary as above.

The theatres have the following code of laws and regulations,
by which the performers are governed :

i st. Every performer engaged or employed in the theatre at
the salary of thirty shillings per week and under, who shall not
duly attend the rehearsal of any theatrical performance, when
summoned thereto (except prevented by real indisposition), shall
forfeit sixpence for every scene in such performance wherein such
performer shall be concerned, and from which he or she shall be
absent ; and if absent during the whole rehearsal of his or her
part or character, shall forfeit two shillings and sixpence.

2d. Every performer engaged or employed at a salary of more
than thirty shillings, and not exceeding three pounds per week,
who shall not duly attend at rehearsals as above-mentioned, shall
forfeit one shilling for each scene wherein such performer is
concerned ; and if absent during the whole rehearsal as aforesaid,
shall forfeit five shillings.

3d. Every performer engaged or employed at a salary of more
than three pounds, and not exceeding six pounds per week, who

216 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

shall not duly attend at rehearsals as above-mentioned, shall
forfeit one shilling and sixpence for each scene wherein he or she
is concerned ; and if absent during the whole rehearsal, seven
shillings.

4th. Every performer engaged or employed at a salary not
exceeding nine pounds per week, not attending rehearsals as
above-mentioned, shall forfeit two shillings for each scene where-
in such performer is concerned ; and if absent during the whole
rehearsal, nine shillings.

5th. Every performer engaged at a salary of more than nine
pounds per week, not attending at rehearsal, shall forfeit two
shillings for each scene ; and if absent during the whole re-
hearsal, ten shillings and sixpence.

6th. Every performer who shall refuse to study, rehearse, or
perform any part or character in any theatrical performance, when
requested by the managers, or either of them, or by the prompter
of the theatre, by their or either of their order or direction, shall
forfeit five pounds ; at Covent-Garden thirty pounds.

7th. Every performer who shall wilfully absent himself or
herself from the theatre at the time he or she should publicly
perform any part or character in any theatrical performance,
shall forfeit ten pounds for the first offence, and double that sum
for the second.

8th. Every performer who shall, by pretending sickness, or
any other untrue allegation, get excused from paying his or her
fines for not attending rehearsals, shall forfeit double the sum he
or she would be liable to pay without such pretence or allegation,
in manner above-mentioned.

9th. If the prompter of the theatre, through neglect or

CUSTOMHOUSE 217

partiality, shall not, in every week during the acting season,
return to the managers, or one of them, the names of every
performer who has incurred any forfeit as above-mentioned, he
shall forfeit a week's salary for every such omission.

N. B. All performers whose salaries are above six pounds per
week, are entitled to four ivory tickets for the free admission of
their friends to the theatre, viz. a double and single order for the
boxes, and two double orders for the first gallery. All performers
whose salaries do not amount to six pounds per week, are totally
excluded from any similar privilege.

The nightly charge for a benefit at Covent-Garden, is upwards
of a hundred and sixty pounds.

The print represents this theatre during the performance of
an oratorio.

THE CUSTOMHOUSE, FEOM
THE THAMES

IS a commodious building, erected for the receipt of his
majesty's customs on goods imported and exported. It is
situated near the east end of Thames-street, and its front
opens to the wharfs and river. This edifice is built with brick
and stone, and is calculated to stand for ages. It has underneath
and on each side, large warehouses for the reception of goods on

218 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the public account ; and that side of the Thames for a great
extent is filled with wharfs, quays, and cranes for the landing
them. The Customhouse is 189 feet in length, the center is 27
feet in depth, and the wings considerably more. The center
stands back from the river, the wings approach much nearer to
it ; and the building is judiciously and handsomely decorated
with the orders of architecture : under the wings is a colonnade
of the Tuscan order, and the upper story is ornamented with
Ionic columns and pediments.

Although we cannot call this a very beautiful building, yet,
from its utility, and the picturesque appearance which it exhibits
from the water, we thought ourselves so far entitled to deviate
from the avowed plan of the work, as to give a representation
of its exterior, taken from the middle of the Thames, nearly
opposite to the building.

LONG ROOM, CUSTOMHOUSE.

The Customhouse, of which we have here given an account,
consists of two floors, in the uppermost of which is a magnificent
room, 27 feet high, that runs almost the whole length of the
building : this is called the Long Room, and here sit the officers
of the customs and their numerous clerks ; the commissioners,
or some of them, usually attend in a room adjoining. The
interior of this room is well disposed and sufficiently light ; the
entrances are also well contrived, so as to answer all the purposes
of convenience.

On this spot is the busy concourse of nations, who pay their
tribute towards the support of Great Britain. In front of this

CUSTOMHOUSE 219

building, ships of three hundred and fifty tons burthen can lie
and discharge their cargoes. There was a Customhouse here
built as early as the year 1383, by John Churchman, one of the
sheriffs of London ; but at that period, and long after, the customs
were collected in different parts of the city, and in a very irregular
manner. About the year 1559, the loss to the revenue was first
discovered, and an act passed to compel persons to land their
goods in such places as were appointed by the commissioners of
the revenue ; and this was the spot fixed on : a Customhouse was
erected, which being destroyed by the great fire, was rebuilt by
Charles II. In 1718, it underwent the same fate, and was restored
in its present form. Before the Customhouse was established
here, the principal place for receiving the duties was at Bilings-
gate. "As early as 979, in the reign of Etheldred, a small vessel
was to pay at Bilynggesgate one halfpenny as a toll ; a greater,
bearing sails, one penny ; a keel or hulk (ceol vel hulcus], four-
pence ; a ship laden with wood, one piece for toll ; and a boat
with fish, one halfpenny, or a larger, one penny. We had even
then trade with France for its wines, for mention is made of ships
from Rouen, which came here and landed them, and freed from
toll, i. e. paid their duties. What they amounted to I cannot
learn ; but in 1 268, the half-year's customs for foreign merchandise,
in the city of London, came only to 75/. 6s. icW. In 1331, they
amounted to 8ooo/. In 1354, the duty on imports was only s8o/.
6s. Set.; on our imports (wool and felts), 81,6247. is. \d. Well
may Mr. Anderson observe the temperance and sobriety of the
age, when we consider the small quantities of wine and other
luxuries used in these kingdoms."

In 1590, the latter end of the glorious reign of Elizabeth, our

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

customs brought in SO.OOQ/. They had at first been farmed at
i4,ooo/. a year, afterwards rose to 42,ooo/. and finally to
the sum mentioned, and still to the same person, Sir Thomas
Smith.

In 1613, by the peaceful politics of James I. our imports
brought in 48.25O/. our exports 6i,322/. 165. 'jd. the whole of
the revenue from the customs amounting this year to 1 09, 572/1
i8s. Afd. in the port of London only. Our exports from the out-
ports raised 25,4yi/. gs. gd.\ the imports, 13,0307. gs. gd. The
sum total was 148,0747. \']s. lod.

In 1641, just before the beginning of our troubles, the
customs brought in 5OO,ooo/. a year ; the effect of a long series
of peaceful days. The consequences of our civil broils reduced
them, at the period of the Restoration, about uo.ooo/. yearly;
from which period we are enabled to be more correct, and to
state the progress of our navigation and customs with greater
precision and certainty, up to the year 1784.

We shall have great satisfaction, in the appendix to this
work, if we are enabled to bring these accounts correctly to a
later period, and to shew from real documents, the utmost effect
of the futile declaration of war against our commerce, made
by the despot of the continent, in his boasted blockading
system.

In these statements the old Customhouse valuations are taken,
for the sake of the comparisons which have been hitherto made
from them ; but the operation of the convoy tax has occasioned
the prices to be fixed pretty near the real value, so that the
amount of the imports and exports can now be ascertained with
greater accuracy than formerly.

CUSTOMHOUSE

221

YEARS.

SHIPS CLEAKEI
OUTWARD.

TONS.

VALUE OF
CARGOES.

NETT CUSTOMS
PAID INTO THE
EXCHEQUER.

The Restoration

1663

69

142,900

2,043,043

390,000

The Revolution
Peace of Ryswick
Last years of William III,

1688
1697
1700

285,800
244,788

4,086,087
3,525,907

551,141
694,892

OI

317,328

6,045,432

1,474,861

02

Wars of Anne

1709

289,318

5,913,357

',257,332

First of George I.

12
1713

355,735

6,868,840

1,315,423

14

448,004

7,696,573

1,588,162

15

First of George II..

1726

27

456,483

7,891,739

1,621,731

28

Peaceful years

1736

37

503,568 9,993,232

1,492,009

38

War of

1739

40

47i,45i 8,870,499

1,399,865

4'

Peaceful years .

1749

5°

661,184

12,599,112

1,565,942

51

War of

1755

56

524,710

12,371,916

1,763,314

57

First of George III. .

1760

573,978

15,781,175

1,969,934

61

626,055

16,038,913

i,b66,i52

62

600,570

1 4,543,336

1,858,417

63

649,017

15,578,943

2,249,604

The average .
both years inclusive

from 1764
to 1770

729,776

15,912,052

2,410,725

Ditto

from 1771
to 1777

848,043

16,425,090

2,480,721

Ditto

from 1778
to 1784

803,592

13,219,070

2,745,26o

Ditto

from 1785

—

18,194,000

to i 79'

Ditto

from 1792
to 1798

—

25,559,000

—

Ditto

from 1799
to 1805

—

35,991,000

—

To this table we can therefore add, upon the authority of
Mr. Rose's brief examination, that the real annual average

222 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

value of imports in four years, 1802 to 1805, both inclusive, was
5 3, 240, coo/.

That the real annual average value of foreign goods and British
manufacture exported in four years, 1802 to 1805, both years
inclusive, was 56,6n,ooo/.

The inspector-general, in his evidence before the committee of
secrecy of the two Houses of Parliament, observed, that many
articles of import, which, in this way of viewing the subject,
would appear as unfavourable to the country, are in fact
accessions of wealth ; such as the produce of our various
fisheries, and a considerable part of the imports from our
possessions in the East and West Indies : the accuracy of which
observation he ascertained to conviction. We venture, therefore,
making due allowance for these considerations, to state the
probable balance of trade to be in our favour, on the average
of the four years ending with 1805, to the extent of about
i4,8oo,ooo/. per annum.

We are likewise enabled, upon the same authority, to state,
that in the year 1784, the shipping in the merchant's service,
belonging to Great Britain and her colonies, not including Ireland,
was 1,301,000 tons, navigated by 101,870 seamen.

In 1805, it had increased to 2,226,000 tons, navigated by
152,642 seamen.

That the real value of the exports of British manufactures,
which were in 1784, i8,6o3,ooo/. had in 1805 increased to
4i,o68,ooo/.

That the produce of our fisheries, which in 1784 was of the
value of I29,ooo/. had in 1805 increased to 484,ooo/.

n jj

a

0

W

-

223

DEBATING SOCIETY

THE plate represents the meeting of a society which has
been usually held in a large room at No. 22, Piccadilly,
under the appellation of The Athenian Lyceum.
In a country like England, where eloquence has so frequently
enabled its possessors to arrive at the highest offices and dignities
in the state, one should have been led to expect some institutions
in which this talent was cultivated, similar to those of the Grecian
republics, when they yielded to no power but that of eloquence :
nothing of the kind, however, presents itself, if we except the
small portion of encouragement which is given to its rising efforts
at our great schools and universities, and by societies of the
nature here represented, to which the English are said to be
partial.

The variety of subjects which press upon our attention, and
require to be completed in this number (as it concludes the first
volume), lays us under the necessity of postponing till our next,
a review of the state of eloquence in this country, which we had
originally proposed to give under this head ; and likewise the
information we have been able to collect respecting these places
of popular amusement. We shall only add for the present, that
it was with extreme regret we have observed in some of these
societies, a disposition to convert that spirit of freedom so interest-

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

ing to the feelings of an Englishman, and that liberty of canvassing
political subjects which the laws allow to be done with decency,
into a theatre of licentious discussion, and a means of disseminat-
ing principles injurious, not only to the true interests of society,
but to the safety of the individuals who venture to utter them,
and which must ultimately lead to the introduction of restraints
upon an amusement, that, with a little more prudence, may be
highly beneficial, as it certainly is congenial to the English
character.

DOCTOKS' COMMONS

IS situate in Great -Knight -Rider -street, to the south of
St. Paul's Cathedral. It is the college of civilians, where
the civil law is studied and practised, and derives its name
from the civilians commoning together as in other colleges. Here
are kept the courts which have cognizance of injuries of an
ecclesiastical, military, and maritime nature.

During the period of the Saxon government, ecclesiastical and
civil power went hand in hand ; the bishop of the diocese, with
the alderman or sheriff, sat together, and the dignity of the one
was supported by the power of the other. The ecclesiastical
policy of the continent introduced with William the Conqueror,
soon occasioned the separation of the ecclesiastical from the civil
power, and the Saxon laws, which abounded with the spirit of

DOCTORS' COMMONS 225

freedom and liberty, were soon overpowered by the Norman
justiciaries. At the accession of Henry I. this union of the
courts was re-established ; but the power of Archbishop Anselm
obtained from the famous Synod of Westminster (3d Henry I.)
a decree, which soon effected its dissolution. This separation
was more fully confirmed in the oath imposed by the clergy,
who brought in the usurper Stephen, in pursuance of which,
ecclesiastical persons and causes were subject only to the bishops'
jurisdiction. The contest respecting the civil law, which was
espoused by the clergy in opposition to the common law, rendered
their re-union impracticable, so that even at the general reforma-
tion of the church, matters were suffered to remain very much in
the same state.

The ecclesiastical courts are, i. The Archdeacons; 2. The
Consistory Court ; 3. The Court of Arches, whereof the judge is
called the dean of the Arches, because he formerly held his court
in the church of St. Mary le Bow (Sancta Maria de Arcubus),
though now all the principal spiritual courts are holden at Doctors'
Commons ; 4. The Court of Peculiars; 5. The Prerogative Court;
6. The Court of Delegates, or great court of appeal in all ecclesi-
astical causes : but in case the king be a party, the appeal from
the decisions of this court are not to him in Chancery, as from
the other spiritual courts, but (by the statute 24th Henry VIII.
c. 12.) to all the bishops of the realm assembled in the Upper
House of Convocation. 7. A Court, or Commission of Review,
sometimes granted in extraordinary cases, to revise the sentence
of the Court of Delegates : but this not being a matter of right
which the subject may demand ex debito justitia, is frequently
denied.

226 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

The causes which are cognizable in these courts are either
pecuniary, matrimonial, or testamentary.

Of the first class the principal are, substracting or withholding
tithes, the non-payment of ecclesiastical dues or fees. Under
this head may also be reduced the several matters of spoliation,
dilapidations, and neglect of repairing the church, and things
thereunto belonging. It is also said, that if a curate be licensed,
and his salary appointed by the bishop, and he be not paid, the
curate hath a remedy in the ecclesiastical court.

Matrimonial causes are chiefly, i. Causa jactitationis matrimonii,
where one of the parties boasts that he or she is married to
another. 2. Restoration of conjugal rights, which is where either
of the parties lives separate from the other without sufficient
cause. 4. Divorces: if it becomes improper that the parties,
through some supervenient cause arising ex post facto, should
live any longer together, the ecclesiastical law decrees a divorce a
mensd et thoro ; but if the marriage was bad ab initio, and was
contracted in fraudem legis, they decree a separation a vinculo
matrimonii itself. 5. The suit for alimony, a term which signifies
maintenance.

Testamentary cases are divisible into three branches : i. The
probate of wills; 2. The granting administrations; 3. The suing
for legacies. But in this last case the courts of equity exercise a
concurrent jurisdiction with the ecclesiastical courts, as incident
to some other species of relief prayed by the complainant.

With respect to the method of proceeding in these courts, they
are regulated according to the practice of the civil and canon
laws, or rather according to a mixture of both, corrected and
new-modelled by their own particular usages, and the interposition

DOCTORS' COMMONS 227

of the courts of common law. Subject therefore to some
particular restrictions, their ordinary course of proceeding is, first
by citation, then by libel, or allegation of complaint; to this
succeeds the defendant's answer ; then they proceed to proof s by
depositions taken down in writing by an officer of the court.
The defendant may then go on to what is called defensive
allegation, to which he is entitled to the plaintiffs answer upon
oath, and may in his turn proceed to proofs. When all the
pleadings and proofs are concluded, they are referred to the
consideration, not of a jury, but a judge, who takes informations
by hearing advocates on both sides, and thereupon forms his
interlocutory decree, or definitive sentence, at his own discretion ;
from which there lies generally an appeal, which, if not presented
in fifteen days, becomes final, by 25th Hen. VIII. c. 19.

But the point on which these jurisdictions are the most defec-
tive, is, that of enforcing their sentences when pronounced, for
which they have no other process but that of excommunication ;
which is described to be twofold, the less and the greater ex-
communication. At the same time we may add, that however
lightly this penalty may be held by some persons and in some
cases, yet, by the common law, an excommunicated person is
disabled to do any act that is required to be done by one that
is probus et legalis homo. He cannot serve upon juries, cannot
be a witness in any court, and, which is the worst of all, cannot
bring an action, either real or personal, to recover lands or money
due to him. Nor is this the whole, he shortly becomes liable to
imprisonment, from which he can only be released by a certificate
from the bishop, that he is reconciled to the church.

i.— Q

228

DEUKY-LANE.

THIS magnificent structure unites a splendid combination
of taste, grandeur, and elegance, which renders it a
monument of fame to Mr. Holland, the architect ; and
when its exterior is completely finished, will be a national
ornament.

It was raised on the site of the old house ; and opened for
the first time March 13, 1793, with a selection of sacred music.

The buildings which surround the theatre are faced with
Portland stone, but will be finished with balustrade. The theatre,
which rises above them, is cased with plaister in imitation of
stone, and finished with a balustrade. Through the roof rises
a turret, making a large ventilator. On the summit is placed a
figure of Apollo, more than ten feet high ; but this is to be
removed to the west front when finished, and replaced by one
of Shakspeare.

The accommodations for the stage are upon a much larger
scale than those of any other theatre in Europe. The stage
is 105 feet in length, 75 wide, and 45 feet between the stage-
doors.

In the roof of the theatre is contained, besides the barrel-loft,
ample room for scene-painters, and four very large reservoirs,
from which water is distributed over every part of the house,

DRURY-LANE 229

for the purpose of instantly extinguishing fire in any part where
such accident is possible.

Over the stage is a double range of galleries, called flies,
containing machinery, and where the greatest part of the scenery
is worked ; but which, from the number of blocks, wheels, and
ropes crossing each other in every direction, give it very much
the appearance of a ship's deck.

There are two green-rooms, one for the use of chorus-singers,
supernumeraries, and figurants ; the other for the principal per-
formers : the latter of which is fitted up in the first style of
elegance, and occasionally visited by persons of the highest
distinction.

The audience part of the theatre is formed nearly on a semi-
circular plan. It contains a pit, four tiers of boxes on each side
of the house, and two galleries, which command a full view of
every part of the stage.

The pit is 54 feet in length, 46 in breadth, has twenty-five
rows of benches, and contains eight hundred persons. The
benches are so well constructed, that those next the orchestra
command an uninterrupted view of the whole stage, and the
avenues to it are very commodious and safe.

The prevailing colours of the boxes are blue and white, re-
lieved with richly fancied embellishments of decorative ornament.
The compartments into which the front of each tier is divided,
have centrally a highly finished cameo, the ground of cornelian-
stone colour, with exquisitely drawn figures, raised in white ; the
subjects are chiefly from Ovid, and painted by Rebecca. The
stage-boxes project about two feet, and have a rich silver lattice-
work, of excellent taste and workmanship.

23o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

The boxes are supported by cast-iron candalabras, fluted and
silver-lackered, resting on elegantly executed feet ; from the top
of each pillar a branch projects three feet, from which is sus-
pended a brilliant cut-glass chandelier. A circular mirror, about
five feet diameter, is placed at each end of the dress-boxes, next
the stage, that produces a pleasing reflected view of the audience.
On nights when this theatre is honoured with their Majesties'
presence, the partitions of the stage-box are taken down, and it
is brought forward near two feet ; a canopy is erected, superbly
decorated with crimson velvet, richly embroidered with gold : and
adjoining them sit the princesses ; their box is usually lined with
light blue satin, fancifully festooned, and elegantly decorated with
silver fringe and rich tassels.

Two stage-doors have been added since the building of this
theatre, over which are two boxes on each side, in a semicircular
inverted form. The dome is admirably constructed to preserve
the sound, and is painted in a most bold and impressive style of
truth and grandeur.

There are twenty-nine boxes all round the first tier, and eleven
back front boxes ; twenty-nine all round the second tier, of which
eleven are six seats deep ; and ten boxes on each side the gallery,
in the upper tiers. There are also eight private boxes on each
side of the pit.

The two-shilling gallery will contain six hundred and seventy-
five persons, and the one-shilling gallery three hundred and eight.
The boxes, pit, and galleries hold three thousand six hundred and
eleven spectators, amounting in cash to 8a6/. 6s.

The corridors which surround the boxes are spacious, and
communicate with each other by means of staircases in the
angles of the theatre.

DRURY-LANE 231

At the west end of the theatre there is a semicircular saloon,
41 feet long, and containing a handsome statue of Garrick between
the comic and tragic muses, opening by an arch to the corridors,
and having bar-rooms, from which the company may be supplied
with refreshments. There are also large saloons on the north
and south sides of the theatre, and handsome square rooms, one
of which is intended for the use of his Majesty, and the other for
the Prince of Wales.

The theatre has three entrances to the boxes, two to the pit,
and the like number to the galleries. The one in Brydge's-street
leads to a saloon 75 feet by 21, called the Egyptian Hall.

Sixteen pillars of the Doric order, beautifully painted in imita-
tion of porphyry, are at once a splendid ornament and support of
the back boxes, to which a flight of stairs at each end leads.

The band of the theatre consists of some of the best musicians
in London ; the leader, Mr. Shaw, is greatly admired for his
professional excellence.

The sum of 2Oo,ooo/. has been expended on this theatre, in
order to render the house and its performances as perfect as
possible for public gratification.

END OF VOLUME THE FIRST.

ERRATA

Page 6, line 10, for ospandrells read spandrels.

Page 13, line 18, for ilua inter gram read illam integram.

Page 14, line 18, for clargis read dassis.

Page 136, line 15, for officiis read officii.

PLYMOUTH

WILLIAM BKENDON AND SON
PRINTERS

DA
683
M53
v.l

Microcosm of London

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